II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1229 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide for the application of mandatory minimum maturity standards applicable to all domestic 

and imported Hass avocados. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2007 

Mrs. BOXER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide 

for the application of mandatory minimum maturity 

standards applicable to all domestic and imported Hass 

avocados. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hass Avocado Quality 

5 Assurance Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Hass avocados are an integral food source 

2 in the United States that are a valuable and healthy 

3 part of the human diet and are enjoyed by millions 

4 of persons every year for a multitude of everyday 

5 and special occasions. 

6 (2) Hass avocados are a significant tree fruit 

7 crop grown by many individual producers both do8 mestically and abroad. 

9 (3) Hass avocados move in interstate and for10 eign commerce and Hass avocados that do not move 

11 in interstate or foreign channels of commerce but 

12 only in intrastate commerce directly affect interstate 

13 commerce of Hass avocados. 

14 (4) The maintenance and expansion of markets 

15 in existence on the date of enactment of this Act, 

16 and the development of new or improved markets or 

17 uses for Hass avocados, are needed to preserve and 

18 strengthen the economic viability of the domestic 

19 Hass avocado industry for the benefit of producers, 

20 importers, and other persons associated with the 

21 producing, importing, marketing, processing, and 

22 consuming of Hass avocados. 

23 (5) The marketing of immature Hass avocados 

24 adversely affects demand for all Hass avocados be25 cause immature avocados are unpalatable and unfit 


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1 for human consumption and, when marketed, result 

2 in dissatisfied customers who will cease purchasing 

3 Hass avocados. 

4 (6) There is no better method of ensuring the 

5 maturity of Hass avocados than through requiring 

6 that Hass avocados meet an established mandatory 

7 minimum maturity standard, as measured by per8 centage of dry matter. 

9 (7) The application of consistent and manda10 tory minimum maturity standards for all Hass avo11 cados is necessary for the maintenance, expansion, 

12 and development of markets for Hass avocados. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to set 

14 forth certain mandatory quality standards in the form of 

15 mandatory minimum maturity requirements for all Hass 

16 avocados, and to provide the Secretary with the authority 

17 necessary to ensure that such standards are met, with the 

18 intention of— 

19 (1) strengthening the position of the Hass avo20 cado industry in the domestic marketplace; and 

21 (2) maintaining, developing, and expanding 

22 markets and uses for Hass avocados. 


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1 SEC. 3. MATURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR HASS AVOCADOS. 

2 Subtitle A of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

3 (7 U.S.C. 1621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 209. MATURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR HASS AVOCA6 DOS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of the Hass Avocado Quality 

9 Assurance Act of 2007, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

10 issue final regulations to ensure that all Hass avocados 

11 sold to consumers in the United States meet the minimum 

12 maturity standards (as measured by percentage of dry 

13 matter) for sale to a consumer of the State of California, 

14 as required by regulations issued pursuant to chapter 9 

15 of division 17 of the California Food and Agricultural 

16 Code or any succeeding provision of California law gov17 erning the minimum maturity standards of Hass avocados 

18 for sale to a consumer. 

19 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) and the regula20 tions issued pursuant to subsection (a) shall not apply to 

21 Hass avocados— 

22 ‘‘(1) intended for consumption by charitable in23 stitutions; 

24 ‘‘(2) intended for distribution by relief agencies; 

25 ‘‘(3) intended for commercial processing into 

26 products; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) that the Secretary determines should not 

2 be subject to such subsection or such regulations. 

3 ‘‘(c) USE OF EXISTING INSPECTORS.—The Secretary 

4 shall, to the greatest extent practicable, use inspectors 

5 that inspect avocados for compliance with section 8e of 

6 the Agricultural Adjustment Act (7 U.S.C. 608e-1), reen7 acted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing 

8 Agreement Act of 1937, to conduct inspections under this 

9 section. 

10 ‘‘(d) PENALTIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DIVERSION.—The Secretary may divert, 

12 export, or repack and reinspect any Hass avocados 

13 that do not meet the requirements of this section or 

14 the regulations issued pursuant to this section. 

15 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Secretary may re16 quire any person who violates this section or the reg17 ulations issued pursuant to this section to— 

18 ‘‘(A) forfeit to the United States a sum 

19 equal to the value of the commodity at the time 

20 of violation, which forfeiture shall be recover21 able in a civil suit brought in the name of the 

22 United States; or 

23 ‘‘(B) on conviction, be fined not less than 

24 $50 or more than $5,000 for each violation. 


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1 ‘‘(e) FEES.—The Secretary may prescribe and collect 

2 fees to cover the costs of providing for the inspection of 

3 Hass avocados under this section. All fees and penalties 

4 collected shall be credited to the accounts that incur such 

5 costs and shall remain available until expended without 

6 fiscal year limitation. 

7 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

9 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

11 If any provision of this Act or the amendment made 

12 by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 

13 person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of 

14 this Act and the amendment made by this Act, and the 

15 application of such provision to other persons not similarly 

16 situated or to other circumstances, shall not be affected 

17 by such invalidation. 

Æ 


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