Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78620. Section 78620.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.
ARTICLE 2. Definitions [78620. - 78636.]
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC 2.
in effectCal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78621. Section 78621.
“Books and records” means books, records, contracts, documents, memoranda, papers, correspondence, or other written data pertaining to matters relating to the activities subject to this chapter.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78622. Section 78622.
“Commission” means the California Tomato Commission.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78623. Section 78623.
“Districts” shall consist of the following:
(a)
District 1 consists of Imperial and Riverside Counties.
(b)
District 2 consists of Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties.
(c)
District 3 consists of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare Counties.
(d)
District 4 consists of Monterey County.
(e)
District 5 consists of Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus Counties.
(f)
District 6 consists of San Joaquin County.
(g)
District 7 consists of all counties in the State of California.
The boundaries of any district may be changed by a two-thirds vote of the commission, which is concurred in by the secretary. These boundaries need not coincide with county lines.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78624. Section 78624.
“Ex officio member” means a nonvoting member of the commission.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78625. Section 78625.
“Fresh” means tomatoes, in any form, which have not been subject to heat processing.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78626. Section 78626.
“Handle” means to engage in the operation of selling, marketing, or distributing fresh market tomatoes that have been produced, or purchased or acquired from a producer, or which are marketed on behalf of a producer, whether as owner, agent, employee, broker, or otherwise, but shall not include retailing except for fresh market tomatoes not previously subject to this chapter.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78627. Section 78627.
“Handler” or “shipper” means any person, other than a common carrier, who handles a quantity of 250,000 pounds or more of tomatoes during a marketing season.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78628. Section 78628.
“Market” or “marketing” means to sell or otherwise distribute tomatoes into commercial channels or trade resulting in the sale of tomatoes.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78629. Section 78629.
“Marketing research” means any research relating to the sale of tomatoes.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78630. Section 78630.
“Marketing season” or “fiscal year” are synonymous terms and mean the period beginning March 1 of any year and extending through the last day of February of the following year.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78631. Section 78631.
“Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, company, or other entity doing business in California.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78632. Section 78632.
“Producer” and “grower” are synonymous terms and mean any person who produces, or causes to be produced, tomatoes in a quantity of 250,000 pounds or more delivered to handlers during the marketing season.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78633. Section 78633.
“Production research” means any research relating to the production, harvest, and post harvest handling of tomatoes.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78634. Section 78634.
“Secretary” means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78635. Section 78635.
“Ship” and “shipping” are synonymous terms and mean the operations of receiving, grading, cleaning, transporting, distributing, or otherwise preparing for market or marketing, tomatoes for fresh consumption.
Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 78636. Section 78636.
(a)
“Tomatoes” means all tomatoes that are produced for commercial purposes and are handled within the state in fresh form, except cherry tomatoes and tomatoes grown in a greenhouse.
(b)
For purposes of this section, “tomatoes grown in a greenhouse” means tomatoes grown in a fixed steel structure using irrigation and climate control, in an artificial medium that substitutes for soil.
(c)
Cherry tomatoes and tomatoes grown in a greenhouse may be included in the definition of tomatoes in subdivision (a) if approved by the producers and handlers of those tomatoes pursuant to a referendum conducted in accordance with the procedures in Article 5 (commencing with Section 78690) of Part 2 of Division 22.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026