USDA amends Florida citrus marketing order

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending the Florida Citrus Marketing Order to reduce membership of the Florida Citrus Administrative Committee and to update quorum requirements.

Other amendments to the marketing order include:

• Revisions to the nomination and selection processes for members.
• Removal of the requirement to allocate membership based on volume from each district.
• Addition of a new section authorizing the use of domestically sourced voluntary contributions and grant funds for promotion and research projects.

The committee recommended these changes to help fulfill membership and quorum requirements and ensure a more efficient and orderly flow of business. The authority to accept voluntary contributions will allow more collaboration with other organizations for research and promotional activities.

The committee unanimously recommended these amendments and 98 percent of citrus producers voted in support the amendments during a referendum conducted April 1 through May 1, 2023.

The final rule for this action was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 27, 2023. The rule will be effective on Jan. 26, 2024.

More information about the marketing order is available on AMS’ 905 Florida Citrus webpage. Information about federal marketing orders is available on AMS’s Marketing Orders and Agreements webpage or by contacting the Market Development Division at (202) 720-8085.

Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help fruit, vegetable and specialty crop 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. AMS provides oversight to 27 fruit, vegetable and specialty crop marketing orders and agreements, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.

Image sources are either licensed or customer-provided.