Agricultural Marketing Service – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document directs that a referendum be conducted among eligible Florida avocados growers to determine whether they favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of avocados grown in South Florida.

This rule amends the general regulations for federal fruit, vegetable and nut marketing agreements and marketing orders by establishing supplemental rules of practice for amendatory formal rulemaking proceedings in accordance with section 1504 of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill). The supplemental rules of practice add procedures to the rulemaking process relating to amendments to fruit, vegetable and nut marketing agreements and marketing orders; authorize the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to impose assessments on affected industries to supplement funds necessary to improve or expedite an amendatory hearing process; and authorize the use of informal rulemaking (5 U.S.C. 553) to amend such agreements and orders. Section 1504 of the 2008 Farm Bill also applies to amendments of federal milk marketing agreements and orders. The supplemental rules of practice for federal milk marketing agreements and orders are addressed in a separate rulemaking document.

This rule would increase the assessment rate established for the Washington Apricot Marketing Committee (Committee) for the 2008-09 and subsequent fiscal periods from $1.50 to $2.00 per ton for Washington apricots. The Committee is responsible for local administration of the marketing order regulating the handling of apricots grown in designated counties in Washington. Assessments upon handlers of apricots are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period for the marketing order begins April 1 and ends March 31. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended or terminated.

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill), the 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act (2002 Appropriations), and the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (Act) to require retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities. Covered commodities include muscle cuts of beef (including veal), lamb, chicken, goat, and pork; ground beef, ground lamb, ground chicken, ground goat, and ground pork; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; perishable agricultural commodities; macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts. The implementation of mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) for all covered commodities, except wild and farm- raised fish and shellfish, was delayed until September 30, 2008. The 2008 Farm Bill contains a number of provisions that amended the COOL provisions in the Act. These changes include the addition of chicken, goat, macadamia nuts, pecans, and ginseng as covered commodities, the addition of provisions for labeling products of multiple origin, as well as a number of other changes that are discussed more fully in the Supplementary Information portion of this rule. However, the implementation date of September 30, 2008, was not changed by the 2008 Farm Bill. Therefore, in order to meet the September 30, 2008, implementation date and to provide the newly affected industries the opportunity to provide comments prior to issuing a final rule, the Department is issuing this interim final rule. This interim final rule contains definitions, the requirements for consumer notification and product marking, and the recordkeeping responsibilities of both retailers and suppliers for covered commodities. The provisions in this interim final rule do not affect the regulatory requirements for fish and shellfish that were published in the October 5, 2004, Federal Register.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is withdrawing the July 9, 2008, Federal Register notice (73 FR 39278), which was published in error, announcing the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Today's notice announces the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds, less USDA administrative costs, to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. The funds announced under this program (SCBGP-FB) are separate from the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) funds announced by AMS on March 5, 2008. SCBGP-FB funds are authorized by the recently enacted Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the Farm Bill). The application process to apply for the SCBGP-FB funds will parallel those currently found in 7 CFR Part 1290. Regulations to implement the amendments made in the 2008 Farm Bill will be published in the near future. State departments of agriculture are encouraged to develop their grant applications promptly. The 2008 Farm Bill makes the SCBGP-FB funds available only through the end of this fiscal year (September 30, 2008). This necessitates a short application period. State departments of agriculture interested in obtaining grant program funds are invited to submit applications to USDA. State departments of agriculture, meaning agencies, commissions, or departments of a State government responsible for agriculture within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to apply. State departments of agriculture are encouraged to involve industry groups, academia, and community- based organizations in the development of applications and the administration of projects.

This rule would reinstate the continuing assessment rate established for the Area No. 3 Colorado Potato Administrative Committee (Committee) for the 2008-2009 and subsequent fiscal periods at $0.02 per hundredweight of potatoes handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order regulating the handling of potatoes grown in northern Colorado. The continuing assessment rate was suspended for the 2006-2007 and subsequent fiscal periods to bring the monetary reserve within the program limit of two fiscal periods' operating expenses. Assessments upon potato handlers are used by the Committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins July 1 and ends June 30. The assessment rate would remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing to amend the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations by increasing the value assigned to imported cotton for calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. An amendment is required to adjust the assessments collected on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products to be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton. In addition, AMS proposes to remove Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers that were absorbed into other HTS categories since the last assessment adjustment.

A public hearing is being held to consider and take evidence on a proposal to temporarily adjust certain Class I differentials in the Mideast milk marketing order.

This rule revises requirements regarding off-grade raisins 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 rule revises the requirement that notification handlers must provide to the inspection service and the Committee when they perform certain functions on off-grade raisins be in writing, thereby allowing them to use other means of communication, including e-mail. This rule also removes the requirement that handlers submit reports to the Committee regarding transfers of off-grade and other failing raisins. This action brings the order's administrative rules and regulations in line with current industry practices.

Notice is hereby given of a public hearing to receive evidence on proposed amendments to Marketing Order No. 983 (order), which regulates the handling of pistachios grown in California. The amendments are proposed by the Administrative Committee for Pistachios (Committee), which is responsible for local administration of the order. The proposed amendments would: Expand the production area covered under the order to include Arizona and New Mexico in addition to California; authorize the Committee to reimburse handlers for a portion of their inspection and certification costs in certain situations; authorize the Committee to recommend research projects; modify existing order authorities concerning aflatoxin and quality regulations; modify the authority for interhandler transfers of order obligations; redesignate several sections of the order; remove previously suspended order provisions, and make other related changes. In addition, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes to make any such additional changes as may be necessary to the order to conform to any amendment that may result from the hearing. The proposals are intended to improve the operation and functioning of the marketing order program.

This proposed rule would amend the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) regulations to reflect recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on November 30, 2007, and May 22, 2008. The recommendations addressed in this proposed rule pertain to the continued exemption (use) and prohibition of 12 substances in organic production and handling. Consistent with the recommendations from the NOSB, this proposed rule would renew the 11 exemptions and 1 prohibition on the National List (along with any restrictive annotations) and correct the Tartaric acid listings by adding annotations originally recommended to the Secretary on November 1, 1995.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces the availability of approximately $10 million in grant funds, less USDA administrative costs, to enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. The funds announced under this program (SCBGP-FB) are separate from the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) funds announced by AMS on March 5, 2008. SCBGP-FB funds are authorized by the recently enacted Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2007 Farm Bill). The application process to apply for the SCBGP-FB funds will parallel those currently found in 7 CFR part 1290. Regulations to implement the amendments made in the 2007 Farm Bill will be published in the near future. State departments of agriculture are encouraged to develop their grant applications promptly. The 2007 Farm Bill requires USDA to obligate the grant funds under this program by the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2008, which necessitates a short application period. State departments of agriculture interested in obtaining grant program funds are invited to submit applications to USDA. State departments of agriculture, meaning agencies, commissions, or departments of a State government responsible for agriculture within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to apply. State departments of agriculture are encouraged to involve industry groups, academia, and community-based organizations in the development of applications and the administration of projects.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule that established final volume regulation percentages for the 2007-08 crop of 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 locally administered by the Raisin Administrative Committee (Committee). The volume regulation percentages are 85 percent free and 15 percent reserve. The percentages are intended to help stabilize raisin supplies and prices, and strengthen market conditions.

This rule increases the assessment rate established for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee (Committee) for the 2008 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.21 to $0.22 per 50-pound bag or equivalent of Walla Walla sweet onions handled. The Committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of sweet onions grown in the Walla Walla Valley of Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon. Assessments upon Walla Walla sweet onion handlers are used by the Committee to fund the reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal period begins January 1 and ends December 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.

This tentative partial final decision proposes to adopt changes to the manufacturing cost allowances and the butterfat yield factor used in Class III and Class IV product-price formulas applicable to all Federal milk marketing orders on an interim basis. A separate decision regarding the collection of manufacturing cost information, the use of an energy cost adjustor and providing for a cost add-on feature to Class III and Class IV product-pricing formulas will be addressed in a separate decision. This tentative partial decision requires determining if producers approve the issuance of the amended orders on an interim basis.

This final rule adopts amendments to the Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program that was established on August 2, 2007 on an interim final basis. The Dairy Market Enhancement Act of 2000, and certain provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to provide for timely, accurate, and reliable market information to facilitate more informed marketing decisions and promote competition in the dairy product manufacturing industry.

The purpose of this notice is to notify all interested parties that the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will hold a Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (Committee) meeting that is open to the public. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established the Committee to examine the full spectrum of issues faced by the fruit and vegetable industry and to provide suggestions and ideas to the Secretary of Agriculture on how USDA can tailor its programs to meet the fruit and vegetable industry's needs. This notice sets forth the schedule and location for the meeting.

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces a forthcoming meeting of the Advisory Committee on Universal Cotton Standards.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is amending the Rules of Practice under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) to increase from $60 to $100 the fee for filing an informal complaint; and to increase from $300 to $500 the fee for handling a formal complaint.

This rule would revise the reporting requirements for imports of commodities regulated under Sec. 608(e) (hereinafter referred to as ``8e'') of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. These changes would require that the inspection certificates generated for each lot of such commodities include the Entry Number from the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) documentation that accompanies that lot. The proposed changes would also require that importers of raisins, dates, and dried prunes report products exempt from 8e import regulations on AMS Form FV-6``Importers' Exempt Commodity Form,'' which is the same form that is currently used by importers of all other commodities exempt from 8e import regulations. This proposal also announces the Agricultural Marketing Service's (AMS) intention to request revisions to a currently-approved information collection for specified exempt import commodities. These changes are intended to streamline the tracking of imported products and provide uniformity in electronic reporting systems used by the industries and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This action withdraws a proposed rule published in the March 13, 2003 [68 FR 11996], issue of the Federal Register, which intended to add a section to the regulations implementing the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order (Order) that would require remitters of pork checkoff assessments, upon request by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), to submit to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) the names, addresses, and any other information deemed necessary to identify persons from whom they collected assessments. This information would have been used to establish the total number of pork producers and importers in the United States, from which AMS would determine the number of respondents necessary to meet a threshold requirement of 15 percent to conduct a referendum, as contained in the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Act. Based upon further review and consideration, AMS has determined that the most accurate representation of total number of pork producers and importers would result from utilizing the most recent data published by USDA's National Agricultural Statistic Service (NASS) in its February 2008 ``Farms, Land in Farms, and Livestock Operations'' report to determine the total number of farm operations with hogs and pigs and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) to determine the total number of importers who imported hogs, pigs, pork, or pork products.

This final rule amends the Fluid Milk Promotion Order (Order) by reducing the burden of late-payment charges applied to processors who mistakenly underreport the amount of assessments owed to the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board (Board), provided that the processor has not made more than two reporting errors in the prior 12 months.

Notice is hereby given that the comment period for the proposed notice to revise the United States Standards for Grades of Frozen Okra is being reopened and extended.

This document contains corrections to the final regulations that were published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 (72 FR 11773) related to the fees and charges for Federal voluntary egg, poultry, and rabbit grading found in sections 7 CFR 56.54(a)(2), 7 CFR 70.76(a)(2) and 7 CFR 70.77(a)(5). The final regulations that are the subject of these corrections were to increase the minimum fees for rabbit grading and for non-resident egg and poultry grading services that had been effective since September 25, 2005. Although the increases were included in the supplementary information, they were inadvertently omitted in the regulatory language.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting as a final rule, without change, an interim final rule which decreased the assessment rate established for the California Olive Committee (committee) for the 2008 and subsequent fiscal years from $47.84 to $15.60 per assessable ton of olives handled. The committee locally administers the marketing order which regulates the handling of olives grown in California. Assessments upon olive handlers are used by the committee to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the program. The fiscal year began January 1 and ends December 31. The assessment rate will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.