Agricultural Marketing Service August 2010 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The United States Standards for Grades of Pineapple Juice are corrected to include text inadvertently omitted from Tables I and II. The corrections restore text for limiting rules that were inadvertently omitted when the standards were last revised in 1987.

This rule revises the quality regulations for shelled walnuts under the Federal marketing order for California walnuts (order). The order regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California and is administered locally by the California Walnut Board (Board). This rule requires inspection and certification of shelled walnut products after manufacturing instead of before manufacturing. It also establishes a process to specify that manufactured products smaller than eight sixty- fourths of an inch in diameter are derived from walnut pieces that have been inspected and certified to U.S. Commercial grade standards. These changes will result in more efficient and cost-effective handler operations, and will certify the final Size And Grade Of All Manufactured Walnut Pieces.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending the regulations issued under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA or Act) to increase license fees. Specifically, annual license fees of $550 are increased to $995. Fees for branch locations are increased from $200 for branch locations in excess of nine, to $600 for each branch location. The maximum amount a licensee will pay per year has increased from $4,000 to $8,000. Additionally, the regulations have been amended to remove the provisions to phase out license fees by retailers and grocery wholesalers and the provisions to phase in triennial license renewal for retailers and grocery wholesalers as these processes have been completed. Finally, the regulations have been amended to eliminate the multi-year license renewal option for commission merchants, brokers, and dealers.

This final rule maintains the current fluid milk product definition's compositional standard of 6.5 percent nonfat milk solids criterion and incorporates an equivalent 2.25 percent true milk protein criterion for determining if a product meets the compositional standard. This final rule also determines how milk and milk-derived ingredients should be priced under all Federal milk marketing orders when used in products meeting the fluid milk product definition. It provides exemptions for drinkable yogurt products containing at least 20 percent yogurt (by weight), kefir, and products intended to be meal replacements from the fluid milk product definition. A referendum was held and the required number of producers approved the issuance of the orders as amended.

This proposed rule invites comments on using an estimated trade demand figure to compute volume regulation percentages for 2010- 11 crop Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS) raisins covered under the Federal marketing order for California raisins (order). The order regulates the handling of raisins produced from grapes grown in California and is administered locally by the Raisin Administrative Committee (committee). This proposed rule would provide parameters for implementing volume regulation, if necessary, for 2010-11 crop NS raisins for the purposes of maintaining a portion of the industry's export markets and stabilizing the domestic market.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for an extension and revision of the currently approved information collection of the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Program. Once approved, AMS will be requesting OMB merge this information collection into the generic collection for National Research, Promotion, and Consumer Information Programs, 0581-0093.