House Bill 4345

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4345

        By Representative Spratt






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to rulemaking authority with

  3         respect to the regulation of the citrus

  4         industry; amending s. 601.10, F.S.; authorizing

  5         the Department of Citrus to adopt a rule

  6         listing forms to be used in conducting its

  7         business; amending s. 601.61, F.S., relating to

  8         bond requirements of citrus fruit dealers;

  9         allowing the Florida Citrus Commission to

10         prescribe certain terms of producer contracts;

11         creating s. 601.9918, F.S.; authorizing the

12         Florida Citrus Commission to refer to national

13         or state requirements in rules relating to

14         issuance and use of symbols, certification

15         marks, service marks, or trademarks; providing

16         an effective date.

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18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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20         Section 1.  Subsection (15) is added to section 601.10,

21  Florida Statutes, to read:

22         601.10  Powers of the Department of Citrus.--The

23  Department of Citrus shall have and shall exercise such

24  general and specific powers as are delegated to it by this

25  chapter and other statutes of the state, which powers shall

26  include, but shall not be confined to, the following:

27         (15)  To provide by rule a list of forms used in

28  conducting its business.  The adoption of such rule

29  constitutes sufficient notice to the public of the existence

30  of the forms and negates the need to place specific citation

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4345

    587-115-98






  1  to such list throughout the related chapters of the Florida

  2  Administrative Code.

  3         Section 2.  Subsection (2) of section 601.61, Florida

  4  Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         601.61  Bond requirements of citrus fruit dealers.--

  6         (2)  Said bond shall be in the form approved by the

  7  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and shall be

  8  conditioned as provided in s. 601.66(9), and also to fully

  9  comply with the terms and conditions of all contracts, verbal

10  or written, made by the citrus fruit dealer with producers or

11  with other citrus fruit dealers, relative to the purchasing,

12  handling, sale, and accounting of purchases and sales of

13  citrus fruit, and upon the dealer accounting for the proceeds

14  from, and paying for, any citrus fruit purchased or contracted

15  for, in accordance with the terms of the contracts with

16  producers, and upon the dealer accounting for any advance

17  payments or deposits made, and delivering all citrus fruit

18  contracted for, in accordance with the terms of the contracts

19  with other citrus fruit dealers. The commission may prescribe

20  by rule that such a producer contract contain information that

21  it considers necessary to protect the producer from deceptive

22  practices. For purposes of this chapter, every such contract

23  shall be conclusively deemed to have been made and entered

24  into during the shipping season in which the delivery of fruit

25  into the primary channel of trade is made.

26         Section 3.  Section 601.9918, Florida Statutes, is

27  created to read:

28         601.9918  Rules related to issuance and use of

29  symbols.--In rules related to the issuance and voluntary use

30  of symbols, certification marks, service marks, or trademarks,

31  the commission may make general references to national or

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HB 4345

    587-115-98






  1  state requirements that the license applicant would be

  2  compelled to meet regardless of the department's issuance of

  3  the license applied for.

  4         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  5  law.

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  8                          HOUSE SUMMARY

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      Authorizes the Department of Citrus to adopt a rule
10    listing the forms used in conducting its business. Allows
      the Florida Citrus Commission to prescribe by rule that a
11    producer contract must contain information that the
      commission considers necessary for the protection of the
12    producer from deceptive practices.  Authorizes the
      Florida Citrus Commission to make general reference to
13    national or state requirements in its rules relating to
      issuance and use of symbols, certification marks, service
14    marks, or trademarks if a license applicant would be
      required to comply with those requirements regardless of
15    the Department of Citrus' action with respect to issuance
      of the license applied for.
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