Six amendments to a federal marketing order for handling California walnuts will take effect Sept. 20.

Rob Verloop, executive director and CEO of the California Walnut Board, said the main change is that mandated inspections at the point of shipment are being eliminated, as those resulted in a certification standard that was lower than that of everyday customer standards.

Verloop said the certification process added an unnecessary cost for the industry. 

“It was an out-of-date mechanism,” Verloop said.

Other amendments were more administrative in nature, Verloop said.

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release, amendments to the market order will:

• Create a new mechanism for determining and collecting handler assessments.

• Add authority to charge interest for late payments.

• Establish an assessment rate of 1.25 cents per inshell pound of walnuts.

• Expand the definition of “to handle” to include “receive.”

• Remove volume control authority.

Other parts of the marketing order also will be modified to allow the amendments to be effective.

The vote on the amendments occurred in April, and the final order was published Aug. 21.

The amendments were supported by more than two-thirds of growers voting, or by those representing at least two-thirds of the volume of walnuts grown by those voting, according to the USDA news release.

“It’s been a two-year process to make all the changes,” Verloop said.