The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that fresh citrus producers voted to continue the marketing order regulating the handling of oranges, grapefruit, tangerines and pummelos grown in Florida. The marketing order requires a continuance referendum be held every six years.
In a referendum held Oct. 19 to Nov. 9, 2020, 99 percent of Florida producers, representing 94 percent of volume produced, voted in favor of continuing the marketing order. For the marketing order to continue, two-thirds of the producers voting in the referendum, or two-thirds of the fresh citrus volume represented in the referendum, needed to vote in favor.
The marketing order enables the fresh citrus industry and the Citrus Administrative Committee (CAC) to regulate quality, volume control and marking, pack and container regulations, and conduct research and promotion activities under USDA’s oversight. These authorities under the marketing order support the industry’s effort to thrive in a competitive marketplace.
Peter Chaires succeeded Arthur B. (Duke) Chadwell as manager of the CAC in 2018. Chadwell had managed the committee that oversees the marketing order since January 1987. Chaires became the fourth manager of the committee in its 80-year existence. He is also executive vice president of Florida Citrus Packers and executive director of New Varieties Development and Management Corporation. All of the organizations Chaires serves deal primarily with fresh Florida citrus.
More information about this marketing order is available here.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service provides oversight of 29 active fruit, vegetable and specialty crops marketing orders, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
Source: The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service
Share this Post