Agricultural Marketing Service March 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Through this Notice, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing the following: Its intent to reestablish the Charter of the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC), which expires March 16, 2022; its call for nominations to fill up to 25 upcoming vacancies for appointments in 2022, and its call for nominations for a pool of candidates to fill future unexpected vacancies in any position categories should that occur. The FVIAC is seeking members who represent the fruit and vegetable industry including growers, shippers, wholesalers/distributors, brokers, retailers/restaurant representatives, state agencies, state departments of agriculture, foodservice suppliers, and fresh-cut and other fruit and vegetable processors. The FVIAC should also include representatives of farmers markets and food hubs, organic and non-organic fruit and vegetable representatives, farmer organizations, and produce trade associations. Please note, individuals who are federally registered lobbyists, appointed to committees to exercise their own individual best judgment on behalf of the government (e.g., as Special Government Employees) are ineligible to serve and cannot be considered for USDA advisory committee membership. Members can only serve on one USDA advisory committee at a time. All nominees will undergo a USDA background check. You must submit the following to nominate yourself or someone else to the FVIAC: a resume (required), a USDA Advisory Committee Membership Background Information Form AD-755available online at https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-755.pdf (required), a cover letter (required), and a list of endorsements or letters of recommendation (optional). The resume or curriculum vitae must be limited to five one-sided pages and should include a summary of the following information: Current and past organization affiliations; areas of expertise; education; career positions held; and any other notable positions held. For submissions received that are more than five one-sided pages in length, only the first five pages will be reviewed.

On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order titled ``Promoting Competition in the American Economy,'' which creates a White House Competition Council and directs Federal agency actions to enhance fairness and competition across America's economy. The Executive Order directs the Council and member agencies to ``identify and advance any additional administrative actions necessary'' to promote competition on an ongoing basis. The Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) takes note of wide-ranging concern from agricultural producers regarding access to and pricing of fertilizer. This notice requests comments and information from the public to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in identifying relevant difficulties, including competition concerns, and potential policy solutions for the fertilizer market.

On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order titled ``Promoting Competition in the American Economy,'' which creates a White House Competition Council and directs Federal agency actions to enhance fairness and competition across America's economy. Among other things, the Executive Order directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) to prepare a report on concerns and strategies for ensuring that the intellectual property (IP) system, while incentivizing innovation, does not also unnecessarily reduce competition in seed and other input markets. This notice requests comments and information from the public to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA or the Department) in preparing the report required by the Executive Order and advancing policy steps on seeds and other inputs identified in and developed by the report.

This rule removes the undesignated center headings in a part of the Code of Federal Regulations administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Further, this rule organizes the part's sections into subparts and adds designated subpart headings. This action is intended to make the part more readable and easier to amend in the future. Finally, these revisions are made to conform to Office of the Federal Register formatting requirements.