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| Horticultural & Tropical Products Division | Return to the H&TP Home Page |
January 31, 2003
Court Rules California Grape Promotion Fee Unconstitutional
According to the Associated Press, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, January 27, that a mandatory advertising campaign for California's table grape industry violates the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The ruling was a victory for several companies that sell grapes under brand names. They argued that the California Table Grape Commission violated their right to free speech because it required feed for generic advertising. The opposing companies stopped paying fees to the commission in 1996. The fees are used for advertising and research, and are paid by all table grape growers in California. The California Table Grape Commission said it plans to file an appeal.
Korean Officials Announce Plans to Sell MMA Quota
On January 24, 2003, the Cheju Citrus Grower's Agricultural Cooperative (CCGAC) of Korea announced guidelines for the quota auction of imported oranges and other citrus. CCGAC intends to auction its allocation of the Minimum Market Access (MMA) quota for 2003 as it did last year. CCGAC will sell its MMA orange and citrus quota to private traders and will not import oranges directly. CCGAC expects the first quota auction to take place in early or mid-February. The total MMA orange quota for 2003 is 50,684 tons of which CCGAC's allocation amounts to 49,384 tons (1,300 tons have been allocated to the Korean Tourist Supply Center for tourist hotel use). For other citrus, the total MMA quota of 2,002 tons has been allocated to CCGAC. Under Korea=s import regime, oranges may enter within the quota at a tariff of 50 percent, or outside the quota at a 2003-duty rate of 54.9 percent. The out‑of‑quota duty is being phased down until it reaches the in‑quota rate of 50 percent in 2004. As the out-of-quota duties have declined, U.S. orange exports to Korea out-of-quota have jumped sharply, exceeding the in-quota volumes. Korea has emerged as a leading market for U.S. oranges, with shipments in fiscal year 2002 totaling $43 million.
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