Agricultural Marketing Service July 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rulemaking proposes amendments to Marketing Order No. 959, which regulates the handling of onions grown in South Texas. The proposed amendments would reduce the size of the South Texas Onion Committee (Committee) and make conforming and clarifying amendments as needed.

This direct final rule will make technical amendments to the Sorghum Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Sorghum Order) and the Lamb Promotion, Research, and Information Order (Lamb Order) to remove obsolete and unnecessary provisions and to make conforming changes affected by the amendatory language revisions.

This proposed rule invites comments on proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 956, which regulates the handling of sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon. The proposed amendments would change the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee's (Committee) size, quorum, and voting requirements. It would also change the staggered term limits so that one-half of the producer and handler member terms expire every two fiscal periods instead of one-third every three fiscal periods.

Notice is hereby given that the comment period on the proposed rule to amend the Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Order to include frozen mangos is reopened and extended. Also, the comment period is extended for the frozen mangos information and collection requirements by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which is necessary to include frozen mangos under the current program.

This rule implements a recommendation from the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (Board) to revise the exemption provisions for tart cherries grown in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. This rule changes the number of years that new product, new market development, and market expansion projects are eligible for handler diversion credit. This action also permits handlers to apply for previously awarded projects if the original handler has not begun the project within a year of approval and provides an expedited approval option for some market expansion activities. This final rule also contains a formatting change to subpart references to bring the language into conformance with the Office of Federal Register requirements.

This proposed rule invites comments on proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 981, which regulates the handling of almonds grown in California. The proposed amendments would change the dates associated with the process to nominate members to the Almond Board of California (Board) as well as the start of the term of office of members of the Board. The proposed amendments would also add authority to allow future revisions of the nomination methods and term of office start date through the development of regulations using informal rulemaking.

AMS published a final rule in the Federal Register on January 4, 2011, amending the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) governing inspection and certification of processed fruits, vegetables, and miscellaneous products regarding Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) of Packed Honey. This document clarifies obligations for a honey packer regarding country of origin labeling.