2009 California Food and Agricultural Code - Section 58571-58580 :: Article 2. Project Agreements

58571.  (a) Project agreements may be entered into between the
department and cooperators in order to address constraints and
encourage the marketing of agricultural commodities in foreign
countries. A project agreement may be limited to activities in one
country, or may include activities in several countries. Project
agreements shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) A description of the commodity, or commodities, for which a
project agreement is being requested and a statement that California
export availabilities are expected to be adequate during the life of
the project.
   (2) A description of the applicant organization or firm.
   (3) A justification for participation in the foreign market
development program.
   (4) A statement of proposed activities, including specific
information on the activities to be conducted, the countries in which
they will be undertaken, who will conduct or supervise them, and the
expected results.
   (5) An estimate of the level of project funds required and an
indication of the availability of industry resources to match project
funds and personnel needed to carry out the proposed program.
   (b) Cooperator activities shall be described and budgeted in a
marketing plan which becomes part of the project agreement. The
marketing plan shall be separately submitted to the director who may
approve or disapprove it. The marketing plan shall be reviewed
annually at which time it may be revised by the cooperator or the
department, or by both.
   (c) The marketing plan shall include all of the following:
   (1) The proposed expenditure of state funds and cooperator
contributions.
   (2) Information on how much funding has been received from the
Foreign Agriculture Service in the last five years and if those funds
have been requested for the current year.
   (3) An identification of the constraints to expanding or
maintaining California exports to each market area addressed by the
plan.
   (4) A description of the proposed activities and the amount of
funds, both state and cooperator, to be spent to overcome or mitigate
the constraints for the commodity, or commodities, and the country,
or countries, covered by the plan.
   (5) A report, if available, from local attaches or the counselors
regarding potential marketing activities in their countries.
   (d) A project agreement may not go into effect pursuant to this
chapter without the director's approval of both the marketing plan
and the agreement itself.
   (e) The cooperator shall administer and carry out the project
agreement and shall permit the director or other state agencies to
oversee and periodically inspect and investigate the administration
of the project agreement.

58572.  (a) The director may only approve a project agreement that
appears to effectively contribute to the creation, expansion, or
maintenance of markets abroad. Primary emphasis shall be on
commercial markets. The director shall give preference to project
agreements that demonstrate potential for establishing long-term
benefits. Special consideration may also be given for any of the
following:
   (1) Cooperators who are new to the market.
   (2) New product promotion.
   (3) Cooperators who are unable to obtain federal cooperator
status.
   (4) Cooperators whose project proposals involve foreign markets
not currently authorized pursuant to regulations adopted by the
Foreign Agricultural Service.
   (b) Approvals and priorities shall be based on the following
criteria:
   (1)  Potential for creating, maintaining, or increasing
consumption and exports of California agricultural commodities to
other countries.
   (2) Long-range contribution to California agricultural exports.
   (3) Ability of the cooperator to provide a competent staff and
other resources to ensure adequate development, supervision, and
execution of project activities.
   (4) Willingness and ability of private organizations to back up
promotional activities with aggressive selling and adequate supplies
of commodities of the quality desired by foreign buyers.
   (5) Competition in the market.
   (6) Cultural, political, and economic obstacles which restrict
imports of California agricultural commodities into the markets.
   (7) An assessment of the project costs compared to the benefits of
expanding California agricultural exports.

58573.  Project agreements may promote either a single commodity or
a group of related commodities. Activities shall be aimed at
increasing both consumer and commercial uses for agricultural
commodities. Activities carried out by cooperators fall under the
following three categories:
   (a) Technical assistance, which includes activities to address
technical problems related to trade impediments and to the sale,
movement, processing, marketing, or utilization of agricultural
commodities.
   (b) Market development activities, which include activities
involving foreign traders, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and
foreign government officials who import, distribute, and market
agricultural commodities.
   (c) Consumer promotion activities, which include activities to
influence consumers by changing attitudes toward, or making them
aware of the advantages of utilizing, California agricultural
products.

58574.  (a) State funds may be used to pay costs which are essential
to, and clearly identifiable with, the carrying out of the
activities specified in the marketing plan approved by the director.
   (b) The director shall adopt regulations similar to those
developed by the Foreign Agriculture Service of the United States
Department of Agriculture to proscribe the unauthorized use of state
funds pursuant to this chapter.
   (c) Not more than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) shall
be annually appropriated for this program's state administrative
costs, as specified in the annual Budget Act. The funds appropriated
for administrative costs pursuant to this subdivision shall be
derived from the redistribution of the total amount of funds that are
appropriated in the annual Budget Act by the Legislature to carry
out this chapter.
   (d) Not more than 15 percent of the funds annually appropriated
for this program shall be used for any one project agreement in any
one year unless the director approves a higher level upon concurrence
of a majority vote of the advisory committee authorized pursuant to
Section 58576.
   (e) Cooperators shall provide an annual contribution which is
equal to or greater than the amount of state funds utilized for each
project agreement.

58575.  Activities undertaken pursuant to this chapter shall be
supplemental to, and not a substitute for, any market development
activities undertaken by the federal government.

58577.  (a) The director, the Director of General Services, and the
advisory committee shall take necessary precautions to assure the
confidentiality of the information which is contained in proposals
for project agreements, market development plans, progress reports,
documents in support of claims for funding under a project agreement,
and other pertinent information submitted by individual marketing
organizations.
   This information is exempt from the California Public Records Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1
of the Government Code).
   (b) Notwithstanding Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of
Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
the advisory committee may hold a closed meeting if an applicant
requests that the submitted information not be discussed in an open
meeting and the committee determines that it is in the best interest
of the program to conduct a closed meeting for that purpose.

58578.  All project agreements entered into pursuant to this
chapter, unless exempted in accordance with Section 10351 of the
Public Contract Code, shall be submitted to the Director of General
Services for approval. The director shall have 15 working days from
the date of submittal to review and approve or disapprove.

58580.  Nothing in this chapter precludes the director from
separately funding project proposals coming from private or nonprofit
agricultural marketing organizations, state marketing order boards,
or commissions which are actively engaged in the marketing of the
same commodities.