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

This recommended decision proposes amendments to Marketing Order No. 984 (Order), which regulates the handling of walnuts grown in California. The proposed amendments are based on the record of a public hearing held via videoconference technology on April 19 and 20, 2022. The California Walnut Board (Board), which locally administers the Order, recommended proposed amendments that would eliminate mandatory inspection and certification of inshell and shelled walnuts, and of shelled walnuts for processing; create a new mechanism for determining and collecting handler assessments; add authority to charge interest for late payments; establish an assessment rate of $0.0125 per inshell pound of walnuts; expand the definition of ``to handle'' to include ``receive''; and remove volume control authority. In addition, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposed to make any such changes to the Order as may be necessary to conform to any amendment that may result from the hearing.

This proposed rule invites comments on a recommendation from the Washington Apricot Marketing Committee (Committee) to terminate the Federal marketing order regulating the handling of apricots grown in designated counties in Washington (Marketing Order No. 922). The Committee determined the marketing order is no longer necessary to maintain orderly marketing conditions and unanimously recommended its termination. Following the Committee's recommendation, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) suspended the remaining reporting and assessment collection requirements under the marketing order while it considered termination of the marketing order. After reviewing the Committee's recommendation and other information submitted, AMS determined that the marketing order no longer tends to effectuate the declared policy of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. If implemented, this proposed rule would remove Marketing Order No. 922 from the Code of Federal Regulations.

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing revision to the U.S. Standards for Beans, pertaining to the grade determining factors Moisture and Contrasting Chickpeas in the class Chickpea/ Garbanzo Beans, under the United States Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended, (AMA). Stakeholders in the bean processing/handling industry requested AMS to amend the grading requirements for Moisture and Contrasting Chickpeas in Chickpea/Garbanzo Beans in the U.S. Bean Standards. To ensure that the bean standards remain relevant, AMS invites interested parties to comment on whether revising the Chickpea/ Garbanzo standard will facilitate the marketing of Chickpea/Garbanzo Beans. This action may revise or amend the table of Grades and Grade Requirements for Chickpea/Garbanzo Beans in the U.S. Standard for Beans.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is providing additional time for the public to submit comments and information about how to update the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic regulations on inert ingredients in pesticides used in organic production. AMS seeks comments on alternatives to its existing regulations that would align with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulatory framework for inert ingredients. Information from public comments would inform AMS's approach to this topic, including any proposed revisions of the USDA organic regulations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is soliciting comments on proposed revisions to the regulations under the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921. The proposal would prohibit certain prejudices against market-vulnerable individuals that tend to exclude or disadvantage covered producers in those markets. The proposal would identify retaliatory practices that interfere with lawful communications, assertion of rights, and associational participation, among other protected activities, as unjust discrimination prohibited by the law. The proposal would also identify unlawfully deceptive practices that violate the Packers and Stockyards Act with respect to contract formation, contract performance, contract termination, and contract refusal. The purpose of the rule is to promote inclusive competition and market integrity in the livestock, meats, poultry, and live poultry markets.