Tomatoes Grown in Florida; Exemption of Specialty Packed Red Ripe Tomatoes From Container Requirements

This interim final rule exempts shipments of specialty packed red ripe tomatoes from the container net weight requirements in the Florida tomato handling regulation. This exemption was unanimously recommended by the Florida Tomato Committee which locally administers the marketing order. This rule will allow handlers to ship specialty packed red ripe tomatoes in containers with different net weights than those currently authorized under the order. This will facilitate the movement of such tomatoes, further the development of this relatively new market, and is expected to improve returns to producers of Florida tomatoes.