Public Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors, 7783 [2017-01312]
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7783
Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 82, No. 13
Monday, January 23, 2017
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains documents other than rules or
proposed rules that are applicable to the
public. Notices of hearings and investigations,
committee meetings, agency decisions and
rulings, delegations of authority, filing of
petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are
examples of documents appearing in this
section.
UNITED STATES AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
Public Quarterly Meeting of the Board
of Directors
United States African
Development Foundation.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
AGENCY:
The U.S. African
Development Foundation (USADF) will
hold its quarterly meeting of the Board
of Directors to discuss the agency’s
programs and administration.
DATES: The meeting date is Tuesday,
January 31, 2017, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting location is
1400 I St. NW., Suite 1000, Washington,
DC 20005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June
Brown, 202–233–8882.
SUMMARY:
Authority: Public Law 96–533 (22 U.S.C.
290h).
Dated: January 13, 2017.
June Brown,
Interim General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017–01312 Filed 1–19–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6117–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Docket No. AMS–LPS–16–0114]
U.S. Standards for Grades of Catfish
and Catfish Products
Agricultural Marketing Service,
USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
AGENCY:
This Notice informs the
public that the Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS) will not proceed with the
development of voluntary U.S.
Standards for Grades of Catfish and
Catfish Products at this time.
DATES: January 23, 2017.
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:02 Jan 19, 2017
Jkt 241001
USDA, AMS, Quality
Assessment Division (QAD); 1400
Independence Avenue SW., Stop 0258,
Room 3932–S, Washington, DC 20250.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
David Bowden, Chief, Standardization
Branch; USDA, AMS, QAD; 1400
Independence Avenue SW., Stop 0258,
Room 3932–S, Washington, DC 20250;
phone (202) 690–3148; or via email at
David.Bowden@ams.usda.gov.
Alternately, Bucky Gwartney, Marketing
Specialist, Standardization Branch;
USDA, AMS, QAD; 1400 Independence
Avenue SW., Stop 0258, Room 3932–S,
Washington, DC 20250; phone (202)
720–1424; or via email at
Bucky.Gwartney@ams.usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under
section 203(c) of the Agricultural
Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–
1627), the Secretary of Agriculture is
directed to ‘‘develop and improve
standards of quality, condition,
quantity, grade, and packaging, and
recommend and demonstrate such
standards in order to encourage
uniformity and consistency in
commercial practices.’’ USDA is
committed to carrying out this authority
in a manner that facilitates the
marketing of agricultural products. One
method of achieving this objective is
through the development and
maintenance of standards by AMS.
Currently, AMS maintains standards for
a wide variety of commodities and in
many cases applies those standards to
commodities on a fee-for-service basis.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy
Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) and the
Agricultural Act of 2014 (2014 Farm
Bill) directed the Secretary of
Agriculture to establish within USDA a
voluntary, fee-based grading program for
catfish. Since passage of the 2008 and
2014 Farm Bills, and particularly since
the publication of the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS) final rule,
‘‘Mandatory Inspection of Fish of the
Order Siluriformes and Products
Derived From Such Fish,’’ which
defined catfish (80 FR 75589), AMS has
engaged the U.S. catfish industry and
other stakeholders to seek input on
requirements for voluntary U.S.
standards for grades of catfish. This
culminated in a Notice published in the
Federal Register (81 FR 45449) on July
14, 2016, inviting the public to submit
information, background, comments,
and data to assist in the development of
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 4703
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voluntary U.S. Standards for Grades of
Catfish and Catfish Products.
During the 60-day comment period,
four responses were submitted—two
from catfish importers, one from an
industry institution, and one from a U.S.
catfish producer/processor. One
importer stated support for a USDA
grading program if it included all
Siluriformes species (currently,
imported products of many varieties of
Siluriformes are not eligible to be
graded under the U.S. Department of
Commerce’s National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) Standard). Two
additional responses did not support
USDA’s development of voluntary U.S.
standards or a grading program. One
pointed out the duplicity of creating
these under AMS when they already
exist under NFMS, noting the
unnecessary use of resources to develop
a program ‘‘and market to a consuming
[public] that is not demanding a new
U.S. Grade Standard;’’ the other
recommended the use of the NMFS
standards and grading program, as these
are already familiar to the industry and
their customers. The final response was
outside the scope of the Notice, as it
objected to the mandatory inspection of
fish of the order Siluriformes by FSIS
but did not address development by
USDA of voluntary U.S. standards or a
grading program. These comments are
available at the following Web site:
https://www.regulations.gov/
document?D=AMS-LPS-16-0006.
Based on the responses received from
the Notice as well as additional
feedback from stakeholders through
other avenues, including two industry
workshops coordinated by AMS and
academia and an industry-wide
conference call held by AMS in May
2016, AMS has concluded that there is
not sufficient interest in USDA–AMS
standards for catfish or an AMSadministered grading program at this
time.
It is important to note that a standard
for catfish, and associated voluntary
grading services, are currently available
to the industry through NMFS. NMFS
maintains the ‘‘United States Standards
for Grades of North American
Freshwater Catfish and Products Made
Therefrom’’ and provides grading and
certification services on a fee-for-service
basis. Graded catfish and catfish
products may bear official marks,
including ‘U.S. Grade A,’ ‘Processed
E:\FR\FM\23JAN1.SGM
23JAN1
]]>Agencies
- UNITED STATES AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 13 (Monday, January 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 7783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01312]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 13 / Monday, January 23, 2017 /
Notices
[[Page 7783]]
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UNITED STATES AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
Public Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors
AGENCY: United States African Development Foundation.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) will hold its
quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors to discuss the agency's
programs and administration.
DATES: The meeting date is Tuesday, January 31, 2017, 9:00 a.m. to
12:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: The meeting location is 1400 I St. NW., Suite 1000,
Washington, DC 20005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June Brown, 202-233-8882.
Authority: Public Law 96-533 (22 U.S.C. 290h).
Dated: January 13, 2017.
June Brown,
Interim General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2017-01312 Filed 1-19-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6117-01-P
