USDA suspends California kiwifruit marketing order provisions

September 30, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the suspension of the California kiwifruit marketing order provisions.

Beginning Dec. 31, 2026, handlers will not be required to meet the marketing order’s quality requirements, pack and container requirements, remit assessments, or submit reports on kiwifruit handled during the 2026-2027 crop year.

Due to the suspension of the quality requirements on California kiwifruit, imported kiwifruit will be allowed into the stream of commerce without meeting the import requirements.

This action follows the results of the referendum the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) conducted May 18 to June 8, 2026, showing California kiwifruit producers did not support continuing the marketing order.

In the coming months, USDA will issue a proposed rule to formally terminate the California kiwifruit marketing order which will include a 60-day public comment period. The mandatory quality requirements on imported kiwifruit will also be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations.

More information about the marketing order is available on the AMS California Kiwifruit 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 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’s oversight of fruit, vegetable and specialty crop marketing orders helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.