DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

(1) Establishment and membership. A seed potato commission is hereby established to administer this marketing order. The commission shall be composed of ((three)) two members who shall be affected producers elected by the producers as provided in the act, and ((four)) two members who shall be appointed by the director. In addition, the director shall be a voting member of the commission.

(a) Elected producer positions on the board shall be designated as positions 2((, 3,)) and 4.

(b) Director-appointed positions on the board shall be designated as positions 1((, 5, 6, and 7)) and 3.

(c) The position representing the director shall be designated as position ((8)) 5.

(2) Membership qualifications. Commission members shall be citizens and residents of this state, over the age of eighteen years and producer members of the commission shall be producers of seed potatoes in the state of Washington. The qualifications of producer members of the commission as herein set forth must continue during their term of office. Members appointed by the director shall be either producers or others active in matters relating to seed potatoes.

(3) Term of office. (((a))) The term of office of commission members shall be three years from the date of their election or appointment and until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified so that one-third of the terms will commence as nearly as practicable each year.

(4) Nomination, appointment and election of commission members. Nomination, appointment, and election of commission members shall be as set forth in the act and specified by the director. Dates for this process are as follows:

(a) Not earlier than March 19 and not later than April 3 of each year, the director shall give notice by mail to all affected producers that an open commission position(s) will occur in the commission and call for nominations. Nominating petitions shall be signed by three persons qualified to vote for the candidates. The notice shall state the final date for filing nominating petitions which shall be not earlier than April 7 and not later than April 12 of such year.

(b) The director shall conduct an election or advisory vote by mail to all affected producers in the district wherein the open commission position(s) will occur not earlier than April 17 and not later than May 2 of each year. Ballots shall be returned not later than June 1 of each year. An election or advisory vote shall be conducted in a manner so that it shall be a secret ballot in accordance with rules adopted by the director. An affected producer is entitled to one vote.

(c) When only one nominee is nominated by the affected producers for a director-appointed position, RCW 15.66.120 shall apply.

(d) Except with respect to the initial seed potato commission, the members of the commission not elected by the producers or appointed by the director shall be elected by a majority of the commission within ninety days prior to the expiration of the term.

(5) Vacancies.

(a) In the event of a vacancy in an elected position, the remaining members shall select a qualified person to fill the term. The appointment shall be made at the commission's first or second meeting after the position becomes vacant.

(b) In the event of a vacancy in a director-appointed position, the position shall be filled as specified in chapter 15.66 RCW.

(1) The commission may by resolution establish a headquarters which shall continue as such unless and until so changed by the commission, at which headquarters shall be kept the books, records and minutes of the commission meetings.

(2) The commission shall hold at least two regular meetings during each fiscal year with the time and date thereof to be fixed by the resolution of the commission. Notice of the time and place of regular meetings shall be published on or before January of each year in the Washington State Register. Notice of any change to the meeting schedule shall be provided in compliance with chapter 42.30 RCW, the Open Public Meetings Act.

(3) The commission may hold special meetings as it may deem advisable and shall establish by resolution the time, place and manner of calling such special meetings with reasonable notice to the members, provided, that the notice to a member of any special meeting may be waived by a waiver from that member of the board. Notice for special meetings shall be in compliance with chapter 42.30 RCW.

(4) Any action taken by the commission shall require the majority vote of the members present provided a quorum is present.

(5) A quorum of the commission shall consist of at least ((five)) three members.

(6) No members of the commission shall receive any salary or other compensation from the commission, except that each member shall be paid a specified sum to be determined by resolution of the commission, which rate shall not exceed the compensation rate set by RCW 43.03.230 for each day spent in actual attendance at or traveling to and from meetings of the commission or on special assignments for the commission, together with subsistence and travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060. The commission may adopt by resolution provisions for reimbursement of actual travel expenses incurred by members of the commission in carrying out the provisions of this marketing order pursuant to RCW 15.66.130.

(1) Assessments levied. There is hereby levied and there shall be collected by the commission, as provided in chapter 15.66 RCW, upon all seed potatoes of commercial quantities grown in the state an annual assessment which shall be paid by the producer thereof upon each and every hundredweight of seed potatoes sold, processed, delivered for sale or processing by him or her or stored or delivered for storage when such storage or delivery for storage is outside the boundaries of this state. ((The assessment shall be three cents per hundredweight.)) The assessment shall then be set by the seed potato commission at a regular meeting before July 15th of each year, to become effective from September 1st of the same year to August 31st of the following year. The assessment shall not be less than one cent or more than ((five)) ten cents per hundredweight. No assessment may be collected on the following:

(a) Seed potatoes of a producer's own production used by him or her on his or her own premises for seed, feed or personal consumption;

(b) Seed potatoes donated or shipped for relief or charitable purposes; or

(c) Sales on a producer's premises by a producer direct to a consumer of five hundred pounds or less of seed potatoes from a producer's own production.

No assessment levied or made collectable by the act under this order shall exceed three percent of the total market value of all such seed potatoes sold, processed or delivered for sale or processing by all producers of seed potatoes for the fiscal year to which the assessment applies.

(2) Collection of assessment.

(a) All assessments made and levied pursuant to the provisions of the act under this marketing order shall apply to the respective producer who shall be primarily liable therefore. To collect the assessments, the commission may require:

(i) Stamps to be known as "Washington seed potato commission stamps" to be purchased from the commission and fixed or attached to the containers, invoices, shipping documents, inspection certificates, releases or receiving receipts or tickets. Any stamps shall be canceled immediately upon being attached or fixed and the date of the cancellation shall be placed thereon;

(ii) Handlers receiving seed potatoes from the producer, including warehousemen and processors, to collect producer assessments from producers whose production they handle and all moneys so collected shall be paid to the commission on or before the twentieth day of the succeeding month for the previous month's collections. Each handler shall at the times as required by rule, file with the commission a return under oath on forms to be furnished by the commission, stating the quantity of seed potatoes handled, processed, delivered and/or shipped during the period prescribed by the commission.

(iii) In the event payment of producer assessments occur before the seed potatoes are shipped off the farm or occur at different or later times, such person subject to the assessment shall give adequate assurance or security for its payment as the commission shall require.

(b) The commission is authorized to make reasonable rules in accordance and conformity with the act and with this section to effectuate the collection of assessments. On or before the beginning of each marketing season, the commission shall give reasonable notice to all producers, handlers and other affected persons of the method or methods of collection to be used for that marketing season.

(c) No hundredweight unit or units of seed potatoes shall be transported, carried, shipped, sold, stored or otherwise handled or disposed of until every due and payable assessment has been paid and the receipt issued or stamp canceled, but no liability or obligation applies to common carriers in the regular course of their business. When any seed potatoes for which an exemption is claimed, as provided for in subsection (1) of this section, are shipped either by railroad or truck, there shall be plainly noted on the bill of lading, shipping document, container or invoice, the reasons for the exemption(s).

(d) Any producer or handler who fails to comply with the provisions of this section as herein provided shall be guilty of a violation of this order.

(3) Funds.

(a) Moneys collected by the seed potato commission pursuant to the act and this marketing order as assessments shall be used by the commission only for the purposes of paying for the costs or expenses arising in connection with carrying out the purposes and provisions of the act and this marketing order.

(b) At the end of each fiscal year the commission shall credit each producer with any amount paid by such producer in excess of three percent of the total market value of all seed potatoes sold, processed, delivered for sale or processing or delivered for storage or stored when such storage or delivery for storage was outside the boundaries of this state during that period. Refund may be made only upon satisfactory proof given by the producer which may include, bills of lading, bills of sale or receipts.