Washington § 15.66.240 - Marketing agreements.

Marketing agreements shall be created upon written application filed with the director by not less than five commercial producers of an agricultural commodity and upon approval of the director. The director shall hold a public hearing upon such application. Not less than five days prior thereto he or she shall give written notice thereof to all producers whom he or she determines may be proper parties to such agreement and shall publish such notice at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the affected area. The director shall approve an agreement so applied for only if he or she shall find:

(1) That no other agreement or order is in force for the same commodity in the same area or any part thereof;

(2) That such agreement will tend to effectuate its purpose and the declared policies of this chapter and conforms to law;

(3) That enough persons who produce a sufficient amount of the affected commodity to tend to effectuate said policies and purposes and to provide sufficient moneys to defray the necessary expenses of formulation, issuance, administration, and enforcement have agreed in writing to said agreement.

Such agreement may be for any of the purposes and may contain any of the provisions that a marketing order may contain under the provisions of this chapter but no other purposes and provisions. A commodity commission created by such agreement shall in all respects have all powers and duties as a commodity commission created by a marketing order. Such agreement shall be binding upon, and only upon, persons who have signed the agreement: PROVIDED, That a cooperative association may, in behalf of its members, execute any and all marketing agreements authorized hereunder, and upon so doing, such agreement so executed shall be binding upon said cooperative association and its members. Such agreements shall go into force when the director endorses his or her approval in writing upon the agreement and so notifies all who have signed the agreement. Additional signatories may be added at any time with the approval of the director. Every agreement shall remain in force and be binding upon all persons so agreeing for the period specified in such agreement but the agreement shall provide a time at least once in every twelve months when any or all such persons may withdraw upon giving notice as provided in the agreement. Such an agreement may be amended or terminated in the same manner as herein provided for its creation and may also be terminated whenever after the withdrawal of any signatory the director finds on the basis of evidence presented at such hearing that not enough persons remain signatory to such agreement to effectuate the purposes of the agreement or the policies of the act or to provide sufficient moneys to defray necessary expenses. However, in the event that a cooperative association is signatory to the marketing agreement in behalf of its members, the action of the cooperative association shall be considered the action of its members for the purpose of determining withdrawal or termination.