O.C.G.A. § 2-14-136 (2019)
Marketing season shipping date
The Commissioner may determine and announce a shipping date each year for the Vidalia onion marketing season in this state upon the recommendation of the Vidalia Onion Advisory Panel. Vidalia onions may be shipped prior to such date with a mandatory U.S. No. 1 grade certificate. The Vidalia Onion Advisory Panel shall survey the conditions of the Vidalia onion crop and recommend a shipping date for the marketing season to the Commissioner.
History
Code 1981, § 2-14-136, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 710, § 3; Ga. L. 2003, p. 461, § 3.
Annotations
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Authority to regulate packing and shipping. - Trial court erred in declaring a new Vidalia onion packing regulation invalid because, pursuant to the Vidalia Onion Act, O.C.G.A. § 2-14-130 et seq., the packing date rule was within the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture’s authority and was not inconsistent with the shipping date statute as all authority to regulate packing and shipping rested with the Commissioner; and because some evidence was presented to support a finding that the packing date rule was reasonable in light of the testimony and letters received by the Commissioner concerning the declining quality of the Vidalia onion and the threat to the industry. Black v. Bland Farms, LLC, 332 Ga. App. 653, 774 S.E.2d 722 (2015), cert. denied, No. S15C1669, 2015 Ga. LEXIS 713 (Ga. 2015).
Trial court did not err in concluding that the plaintiff had standing to bring the declaratory judgment action as the plaintiff made a sufficient showing that the facts were complete and that its interest was not merely academic, hypothetical, or colorable, but actual because, as a Vidalia onion grower, the plaintiff was an interested party claiming a right to ship onions pursuant to the shipping statute - a right the plaintiff claimed was impeded by a newly enacted regulation; and because, if the plaintiff failed to comply with the new regulation, the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture had that statutory authority to impose civil and criminal penalties. Black v. Bland Farms, LLC, 332 Ga. App. 653, 774 S.E.2d 722 (2015), cert. denied, No. S15C1669, 2015 Ga. LEXIS 713 (Ga. 2015). While the shipping date statute pro-
vides that Vidalia onions may be shipped prior to the announced shipping date with a U.S. No. 1 grade certificate, the freedom to do so can be further limited by the authority of the Georgia Commissioner of
Agriculture to regulate packing. Black v. Bland Farms, LLC, 332 Ga. App. 653, 774 S.E.2d 722 (2015), cert. denied, No. S15C1669, 2015 Ga. LEXIS 713 (Ga. 2015).