The future of the Florida Department of Citrus hangs in the balance as a circuit court judge ruled this week that the citrus tax, which provides the department with two-thirds of its revenue, is unconstitutional as it compels growers to pay for generic advertising.

The legal battle however is set to go to the next stage as the FDOC has said it will appeal against the ruling by the Polk County judge Dennis Maloney. The case had been brought by a group of large Florida agribusinesses.

Walt Brewer, Florida Citrus Commission chairman said he fully expected the FDOC to win on appeal.

The FDOC's executive director Bob Crawford also stressed that the ruling was not against the effectiveness of generic advertising. He pointed out that similar judicial rulings on the constitutional nature of generic advertising for commodities have been inconsistent.

'Without the box tax, the multi-billion dollar Florida citrus industry would be placed in serious jeopardy,' said Crawford.

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