(a) To cover costs of inspection and certification, the State Plant Board shall require reasonable fees of all applicants in advance. These fees shall be deposited into a separate fund and shall be used in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
(b)
(1) To cover costs of promotion and advertising of certified seed, the board after a public hearing shall establish by rule promotion and advertising fees which shall be collected in advance. The fees shall be assessed upon the acreage grown for certified agricultural seed production or upon the number of certified tags and labels sold for production of certified seed from the acreage.
(2) Those fees collected for seed promotion and advertising shall be remitted by the board to the Arkansas Seed Dealers' Association and the Arkansas Seed Growers Association, or their successors, which shall establish and administer their own promotion and advertising programs.
(3) Before collecting the fees under this subsection or increasing those fees hereafter, the board shall seek the advice of the House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Economic Development.