Referendum Order on Continuation of the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Program [41 Pa.B. 5995]
[Saturday, November 5, 2011]I. The Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Program was established under the provisions of the Agricultural Commodities Marketing Act. The Act requires that the Secretary of Agriculture call a referendum of affected producers every five years to determine whether or not a majority of those voting still desire the program. The program was last subjected to a review referendum conducted in 2006. It is now time for another review referendum to determine whether a majority of the wine producers desire the program to continue.
II. Referendum Period: The referendum period shall be from November 14, 2011 until 4 p.m. on November 30, 2011. Completed ballots shall be mailed or hand-delivered to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Market Development, Room 310, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110-9408. Hand-delivered ballots must be received by 4 p.m. on November 30, 2011. Ballots that are mailed must be postmarked no later than November 30, 2011, and received no later than December 5, 2011.
III. Notice of Referendum: This referendum order and an official ballot shall be mailed no later than November 7, 2011, to all affected producers whose names appear on the list of Pennsylvania wine producers maintained in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. Additional copies of the same materials shall be made available at the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture.
IV. Eligible Voters: The rules governing the eligibility of a producer for voting are as follows: Names of affected eligible producers shall be taken from the commodity wine list of producers/sellers maintained in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. These names are supplied to the Secretary from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Voting producers must have a Limited Winery License.
V. Counting of Ballots: The ballots will be canvassed and counted by a Teller Committee appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The counting of the ballots will begin at 10 a.m., Friday, December 9, 2011 at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17110. The Secretary will announce the results of the referendum within 30 days following the completion of the referendum period. The results will be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and the Harrisburg Patriot-News, and disseminated to the news media.
VI. Reporting Irregularities: Any irregularities or disputes concerning the referendum procedures must be reported in written form to the Secretary of Agriculture not later than seven (7) calendar days from the end of the referendum period.
VII. Publication: This referendum order shall be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin and the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
VIII. Effective Date: The foregoing order shall be effective immediately.
GEORGE D. GREIG,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-1879. Filed for public inspection November 4, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]
