Final Agency Determination: FAD-154

FAD-154

Subject: Request dated January 13, 2012, requesting a Final Agency Determination for the 2011 crop year regarding the interpretation of section 10(g) of the Florida Citrus Fruit Crop Insurance Provisions, published at 7 C.F.R. part 457.107. This request is pursuant to 7 C.F.R. part 400, subpart X.

Background:

Section 10(g) of the Florida Citrus Fruit Crop Insurance Provisions (Crop Provisions) states in relevant part:

10. Settlement of Claim.

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(g) Any individual citrus fruit that is unmarketable either as fresh fruit or as juice because it is immature, unwholesome, decomposed, adulterated, or otherwise unfit for human consumption due to an insured cause will be considered as 100 percent damaged.

Interpretation Submitted

The requester interprets the foregoing policy provisions as such that a citrus crop insured as fresh should be considered as 100 percent damaged if unmarketable as fresh, even if it is marketable as juice. Without any ambiguity section 10(g) of the Crop Provisions states that "fruit that is unmarketable EITHER as fresh fruit OR as juice…will be considered as 100% damaged." Either/or means "one or the other of the two." The requestor's position is that there are two options for the fruit to be considered as "100 percent damaged." Either the fruit is unmarketable as fresh (if insured as fresh) or the fruit is unmarketable as juice (if insured as juice). The meaning of "either…or" is very precise in the English language and it should not be subject to interpretation by RMA.

Final Agency Determination

The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) disagrees with the requestor's interpretation that a citrus crop insured as fresh should be considered as 100 percent damaged if unmarketable as fresh, even if it is marketable as juice. In accordance with section 10(g), to be considered as 100 percent damaged, two standards must be met. The first is that the individual citrus fruit (not the citrus crop) be unmarketable either as fresh or as juice. The second standard is that the basis for the unmarketability must be because the individual fruit is immature, unwholesome, decomposed, adulterated, or otherwise unfit for human consumption due to an insured cause.

The term "unmarketable" means "not marketable." When a negative such as "not" or "un" is used in front of "either/or" it changes the meaning of "either/or" to a negative. In applying the plain meaning, "either" can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two. But, when used in the negative the phrase "not/either/or" means "neither/nor." Consequently, "unmarketable either as fresh fruit or as juice" could also be stated as "marketable neither as fresh fruit nor as juice." Therefore, in accordance with section 10(g), only the individual citrus fruit that is not marketable as fresh fruit and that is also not marketable as juice because the individual citrus fruit is immature, unwholesome, decomposed, adulterated, or otherwise unfit for human consumption due to an insured cause will be considered 100 percent damaged.

In accordance with 7 C.F.R. part 400.765 (c), this Final Agency Determination is binding on all participants in the Federal crop insurance program for the 2012 crop year and succeeding crop years the policy provisions are in effect. Any appeal of this decision must be in accordance with 7 C.F.R. part 400.768(g).

Date of Issue: April 3, 2012.