§993.59. Payment to handlers for services. — Inbound Citations

Order means Marketing Agreement No. 110, as amended, and Order No. 993, as amended (§§ 993.1 through 993.97), regulating the handling of dried prunes produced in California, or as they may be further amended hereafter.

(a) Each handler shall, with respect to reserve prunes held by the handler for the account of the Committee pursuant to § 993.59, be paid at a rate computed by the Committee (natural condition rate) for necessary services rendered by the handler in connection with such prunes so held during all or any part of the crop year in which the prunes were physically received from producers or dehydrators. Each handler holding reserve prunes shall perform such services to assure that the prunes are maintained in good condition. No payment will be made for prunes released by handler acceptance of diversion certificates if the handler has not stored the released prunes. The rate of payment shall be established by the Committee and must be approved by the Secretary. Following such approval, it shall be publicized as required in paragraph (e) of this section.

(1) On or before July 20 of each crop year when the Committee recommends a reserve pool (except the Committee may extend this date by not more than ten business days if warranted by a late crop), the Committee shall hold a meeting to review the costs for necessary services rendered by handlers in connection with reserve prunes.

(2) Such amount shall, together with the additional payments, as provided in this section, be in full payment for the costs incurred in connection with but not be limited to the following services: Inspection, receiving, storing, grading, fumigation, and handling. The costs include, but are not limited to:

(i) Acquisition costs, which include those for salaries, commission, or brokerage fees, transportation and handling between plants and receiving stations, inspection, and other costs, including container expenses, incidental to acquisition or storage;

(ii) Direct labor costs, which include those for weighing, receiving and stacking, grading, preliminary sorting and storing (including that performed by the handler at the receiving station), and loading for shipment or other delivery to the Committee or its designee;

(iii) Plant overhead costs, which include those for supervision, indirect labor, fuel, power and water, taxes and insurance on facilities, depreciation and rent, repairs and maintenance (clean-up, etc.), factory supplies and expense, and employee benefits (payroll taxes, compensation insurance, health insurance, pension plan contributions, vacation pay, holiday and other paid days off, and other such costs).

(3) The Committee shall survey all handlers to obtain their costs for services performed with respect to reserve tonnage prunes. The Committee will compute the average industry cost for holding reserve pool prunes by adding each handlers' cost data, and dividing the composite figure by the number of handlers participating in the survey. In the event that any handler's cost data is too low or too high, the Committee may choose to exclude the high and low data in computing an industry average. The industry average costs may be rounded to the nearest $0.25. The industry average costs computed by the Committee shall be publicized by the Committee pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section.

(4) The provisions of §§ 993.59 and 993.159 governing payments to a handler for necessary services rendered by the handler in connection with reserve prunes shall not be applicable to prunes no longer required to be held as reserve prunes due to a downward adjustment by the Committee in the handler's holding requirement on the basis of applicable transferable certificates of diversion returned to the Committee.