Chap. 158.—An ACT relating to apples; to create the Virginia State Apple Com-
mission and to prescribe its powers and duties; to promote the sale and con-
sumption of Virginia apples by providing for campaigns of education, advertis-
ing, publicity, sales promotion and research; to levy an excise tax on apples
packed in closed packages, to provide for its collection, and to appropriate
the revenue derived from it; and to provide penalties for violations on this on

19

Approved March 11, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. Section 1. Definitions.—As used in this act :

(1) The word “commission” shall mean the Virginia State Apple
Commission.

(2) The word “person” shall mean and include individuals, cor-
porations, partnerships, trusts, associations, cooperatives, and any and
all other business units, devices and arrangements.

(3) The word “packer” shall mean any person who first packs fresh
apples in a closed package for shipment or sale; provided, however, that
the first two hundred bushels of apples so packed by any person in any
one crop season shall be exempt from the provisions of this act.

(4) The word “bushel” shall mean a package with a content of
not less than two thousand one hundred forty cubic inches nor more than
two thousand five hundred cubic inches.

(5) The word “barrel” shall mean the United States standard
barrel containing approximately three bushels.

Section 2. Virginia State Apple Commission created.—There is
hereby created, within the Department of Agriculture and Immigration,
an agency to be known as the Virginia State Apple Commission, con-
sisting of seven members representing as nearly as possible each impor-
tant apple-producing section of Virginia. Such commission shall be ap-
pointed, within thirty days after this act becomes effective, by the Com-
missioner of Agriculture and Immigration, who shall be guided in his
appointments by the recommendations of the Board of Directors of the
Virginia Horticultural Society, who in turn shall have consulted with the
local apple growers’ associations with respect to their recommendations.
Each member must be a citizen of Virginia and engaged in producing
apples in Virginia. The members of the commission shall serve for a term
of four years, except that beginning with the first appointments one
member shall be appointed for one year, two members for two years, two
members for three years and two members for four years. The commis-
sion shall elect one of its members as chairman. The members of the
commission shall serve without compensation but they shall be reim-
bursed for actual expenses incurred in attending meetings of the com-
nission.

Section 3. Powers and duties of the commission.—(a) All funds
levied and collected under this act shall be administered by the com-
mission.

(b) It shall be the duty of the commission to plan and conduct
campaigns of education, advertising, publicity, sales promotion, and re-
search for the purpose of increasing the demand for, and the consump-
tion of, Virginia apples, and the commission may make contracts, ex-
pend moneys of the Apple Merchandising Fund and do whatever else
may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

(c) The commission shall have authority to cooperate with other
State, regional, and national agricultural and horticultural organizations
in research, advertising, publicity, education, and other means of promot-
ing the sale and use of apples, and to expend moneys of the Apple Mer-
chandising Fund for such purposes.

(d) The commission shall have authority to appoint a secretary
and such other employees as may be necessary, at salaries to be fixed by
the commission, subject to the provisions of the Virginia Personnel Act.
All employees handling money under this act shall be required to furnish
surety bonds.

Section 4. Excise tax levied —There is hereby levied on all apples
packed in closed packages in Virginia, beginning with the harvest of nine-
teen hundred forty-six, an excise tax of one and a quarter cents per
bushel; three and three-quarter cents per barrel, and on all other closed
packayves at the rate of one and a quarter cents per bushel. Such excise
tax shall be paid by the packer of such apples at the time and in the
manner hereinafter provided. The first two hundred bushels of apples so
packed by any person in any one crop season shall be exempt from the
provisions of this section.

Section 5. Report of apples packed.—Every packer shall submit
to the commission not later than December thirty-first of each vear a
signed statement of all apples packed by him during the preceding crop
season. Such apples shall be reported on forms prescribed and fur-
nished by the commission. Any person who packs apples of the preced-
ing year’s production after December thirty-first shall file a signed state-
ment with the commission not later than May thirty-first showing such
apples so packed by him.

Section 6. Time of payment of excise tax.—The excise tax levied
by this act shall be due and payable as follows: Fifty per centum not later
than December thirty-first of each year; the balance not later than May
thirty-first of the following year. Any apples of a crop season which
are packed after May thirty-first of the following year shall be reported
to the commission and the excise tax paid thereon within twenty days
after the end of the month in which such packing was done. Such ex-
cise tax shall be paid to the Virginia State Apple Commission and by it
promptly paid into the State treasury to the credit of the Apple Mer-
chandising Fund.

Section 7. Records.—The packer shall keep a complete record
of the apples packed by him and shall preserve such record for a period
of not less than two years from the time such apples are packed. Such
record shall be open to the inspection of the commission and its duly au-
thorized agents.

Section 8. Unpaid excise tax and interest thereon shall be collected
how.—The tax imposed by this act and unpaid on the date on which
such tax was due and payable shall bear interest at the rate of one per
centum per month from and after such due date until payment. If any
person defaults in any payment of the tax or interest thereon, the amount
shall be collected by civil action in the name of the Commonwealth of
Virginia at the relation of the commission, and the person adjudged in
default shall pay the cost of such action. The Attorney General, at the
request of the commission, shall forthwith institute action in the proper
court for the collection of the amount of any tax past due under this
act, including interest thereon. |

Sectidn 9. Apple Merchandising Fund created; how administered.
—AIll moneys levied and collected under the provisions of this act shall be
credited on the Comptroller’s books to a fund to be known as the ‘Apple
Merchandising Fund” which is hereby created. All moneys credited to
the Apple Merchandising Fund are hereby appropriated for the purposes
herein set forth, and shall be used exclusively for the administration
and enforcement of this act, including the collection of the taxes, the
payment for personal services and expenses of employees and agents of
the commussion and the payment of rent, services, materials and supplies
necessary to effectuate the purposes and objects of this act. The unex-
pended balance of the Apple Merchandising Fund at the end of each
biennium shall not be transferred to the general fund of the State treas-
ury.

Section 10. Moneys to be expended how.—All moneys collected
under this act shall be expended by the Virginia State Apple Commission
by warrants of the Comptroller on the State Treasurer issued on vouch-
ers signed by the duly authorized officer of the commission.

Section 11. Penalty for violating act.—It shall be a misdemeanor
for any packer knowingly to report falsely to the commission the quantity
of apples packed by him during any period, or to falsify the records of the
apples packed by him.

Section 12. Enforcement of.act; State and county officers shall
assist—It shall be the duty of all State and county law enforcement
officers to assist in the enforcement of this act.

Section 13. Invalidity of part of act not to affect remainder.—If
any clause, sentence or section of this act shall for any reason be ad-
judged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such adjudica-
tion shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall
be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence or section of this act
directly involved in the controversy in which such adjudication shall
have taken place.

2. This act shall be in force and effect on and after July first, nine-
teen hundred forty-six.