The following definitions shall apply when used under this Article:

(1)        “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of North Carolina.

(2)        “Consignment” means any transfer of fruits and vegetables by a seller to the custody of another person who acts as the agent for the seller for the purpose of selling such fruits and vegetables.

(3)        “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(4)        “Farmer” means any person who produces fruits or vegetables or both.

(5)        “Handler” means any person in the business of buying, receiving, selling, exchanging, negotiating, processing for resale, or soliciting the sale, resale, exchange, or transfer of any fruits and vegetables purchased from a North Carolina farmer, received on consignment from a North Carolina farmer, or received to be handled on net return basis from a North Carolina farmer.

(6)        “Net return basis” means a purchase for sale of fruits and vegetables from a farmer or shipper at an unfixed or unstated price at the time the fruits and vegetables are shipped from the point of origin, and it shall include all purchases made “at the market price,” “at net worth,” and on similar terms, which indicate that the buyer is the final arbiter of the price to be paid.

(7)        “Processing” means any act or operation that freezes, dehydrates, cans, or otherwise changes the physical form or characteristic of fruits and vegetables. ?(2018-113, s. 1(b).)