Two weeks after a court ruled that it was unconstitutional for Washington state's apple growers to pay a levy to support the commission's promotions of their fruit, the Washington Apple Commission has announced it is laying off staff and proceeding with a wind-down plan.

According to press reports in the US, the commission is laying off 33 of its 48 staff and 15 other representatives it has contracted overseas. Those staff positions remaining will also be terminated soon.

Ironically, the court case that has brought the commission's demise was initiated by WAC itself when it sued two growers in a class action suit hoping the ruling would be an affirmation of its right to the levy. But the judge ruled that growers could not be forced to pay for promotions that benefit their competitors as its infringed constitutional protection of freedom of speech.

The ruling is similar to one made the same week by a district judge in Florida on the rights of the Florida Department of Citrus to charge a fee for promotion. Whereas the FDOC has vowed to fight the ruling in the appeals process, WAC decided at the end of last week that it would not appeal the judge's ruling against it.

It is possible that some other sort of marketing organisation will be established for the state's apples as interested parties such as the US department of agriculture and other commissions have been viewing the situation since the judge's ruling.

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