Jun 12, 2023USDA amends federal marketing order for California walnuts
On June 7, 2023, the USDA announced that it has amended its federal marketing order for California walnuts after the state’s growers voted to amend the federal marketing.
Amendments
- Will eliminate mandatory inspection and certification of inshell and shelled walnuts, and of shelled walnuts for processing
- Create a new mechanism for determining and collecting handler assessments
- Add authority to charge interest for late payments
- Establish an assessment rate of $0.0125 per inshell pound of walnuts
- Expand the definition of “to handle” to include “receive”
- Remove volume control authority.
For information on the federal marketing orders, visit Marketing Orders and Agreements online. For more marketing information, visit 984 California Walnuts on the AMS website.
“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 provides oversight to fruit vegetable and specialty crops marketing orders to ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity,” according to the USDA website.
