[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 126 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16061]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: July 1, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 1205

[CN-94-006]
RIN 0581-AB29

 

Amendment to Cotton Research and Promotion Regulations Regarding 
Assessment of Imported Cotton-Containing Products

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is amending the 
Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to allow for the continuation of 
collections on renumbered imported cotton-containing products as long 
as no change in the product's Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 
description occurs. Since renumbering of products by the U.S. Customs 
Service occurs rather frequently, providing for a continuation of 
assessment collection will prevent unnecessary and costly interruptions 
of the program.

DATES: This rule is effective upon publication. Comments received by 
August 1, 1994, will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this rule to Craig Shackelford, Cotton Division, AMS, USDA, 
P.O. Box 96456, Room 2641-S, Washington D.C. 20090-6456, or by 
facsimile (202) 690-1718. Three copies of all written materials shall 
be submitted, and they will be made available for public inspection in 
the office of the Cotton Division, Washington D.C., during regular 
business hours. All comments should reference docket number, date, and 
page number of this issue of the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Shackelford, Chief, Cotton 
Research and Promotion Staff, Cotton Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 
96456, Room 2641-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456; or telephone: (202) 
720-2259.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule has been determined to be not 
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866, and therefore has 
not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil 
Justice Reform. It is not intended to have retroactive effect. This 
rule would not preempt any state or local laws, regulations, or 
policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this 
rule. The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be 
exhausted before parties may file suit in court. Under Section 12 of 
the Act, any person subject to an order may file with the Secretary a 
petition stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any 
obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance 
with law and request a modification of the order or to be exempted 
therefrom. Such person is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the 
petition. After the hearing, the Secretary would rule on the petition. 
The Act provides that the District Court of the United States in any 
district in which the person is an inhabitant, or has his principal 
place of business, has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's ruling, 
provided a complaint is filed within 20 days from the date of the entry 
or the ruling.
    There are an estimated 10,000 importers who are presently subject 
to rules and regulations issued pursuant to the Cotton Research and 
Promotion Order 7 U.S.C. 2101-2118. This rule will affect importers of 
cotton and products containing cotton. The majority of these importers 
are small businesses under the criteria established by the Small 
Business Administration. This rule will help ensure the uninterrupted 
collection of assessments on products already subject to assessment.
    The AMS Administrator has determined that this interim final rule 
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of 
small entities, as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.).
    In compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations (5 CFR Part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the information collection and 
recordkeeping requirements contained in this subpart have been 
previously approved by OMB and assigned control number 0581-0093.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is found and determined upon good 
cause that it is impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the public 
interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into 
effect and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date 
of action until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register 
because: (1) it would be disruptive, costly, and inefficient to permit 
a substantial interruption in assessment collections; and (2) this 
interim final rule provides for a 30-day comment period, and all 
comments will be considered prior to finalization of this action.
    In July of 1992, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized 
rules and regulations for the authority to collect assessments on 
cotton and cotton-containing products as authorized in the 1990 Farm 
Bill. In order to designate specific imported products subject to 
assessment, AMS published, within the implementing regulations, a table 
of approximately 700 HTS numbers and individual assessment rates for 
each. Collections began on August 1, 1992. Soon after, the Department 
of Commerce changed certain HTS numbers that USDA had identified as 
subject to the assessment. During the first 17 months of import 
assessments, AMS has found that the Department of Commerce may revise 
HTS numbers as a result of presidential proclamation, congressional 
actions, statistical tracking requirements, etc. Often, these changed 
numbers are merely replacements of previous numbers and have no impact 
on the physical properties, description or cotton content of the 
product it represents.
    The U.S. Customs Service informed USDA prior to the publishing of 
this rule that several HTS numbers listed in the Import Assessment 
Table contained in 7 CFR 1205.510 would no longer be valid as of 
January 1, 1994, because of recent statistical changes made by the 
Department of Commerce. These statistical changes to the HTS numbers 
were made for reasons associated with the implementation of the North 
American Free Trade Agreement.
    In order to collect cotton research and promotion assessments on 
imported products containing cotton, HTS numbers listed in the 
Assessment Table in 7 CFR 1205.510 must correspond to numbers listed in 
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. USDA has found that frequent rulemaking 
is necessary in order to maintain an up-to-date list of HTS numbers in 
the regulations which provide the U.S. Customs Service the authority to 
collect cotton research and promotion assessments on imported cotton 
and products containing cotton.
    Changes made to HTS numbers during calendar year 1993 have resulted 
in reduced collections by U.S. Customs under the import assessment 
program averaging over $30,000 per month.
    USDA has reason to believe that changes in HTS numbering and the 
resulting impact on the Cotton Research and Promotion Program will 
continue. U.S. international trade agreements such as NAFTA, GATT, and 
changes in most favored nation trading status for certain textile 
producing countries will, according to the U.S. Customs Service, 
generate changes in HTS headings on a continuing basis. The Cotton 
Research and Promotion Program would in this environment experience an 
unpredictable loss of revenue.
    With the number and frequency of HTS number changes USDA expects, 
updating the list of HTS numbers through rulemaking is an impractical 
solution to minimizing interruptions in assessment collections. 
Therefore, this rule provides for the continued collection of 
assessments when HTS numbers are changed so long as such changes have 
no impact on the physical properties, description, or cotton content of 
the products involved.
    It is important to note that Commerce does renumber HTS headings 
where an actual change in the product occurs. This rule would not 
address this type of renumbering. USDA would continue to suspend 
assessments in these situations until the cotton content and a revised 
assessment rate could be determined and the assessment table revised.
    Based on discussions with importers and U.S. Customs Service 
officials, USDA has determined that the import community supports 
continuing to pay assessments on products when numbers have changed but 
the product remains the same. In fact, suspending collections on HTS 
headings that undergo mere renumbering is causing confusion for 
importers and Customs. Customs officials have informed USDA that they 
can program their automated computer collection system to continue 
collecting assessments when HTS headings undergo renumbering.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1205

    Advertising, Agricultural research, Cotton, Marketing agreements, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 1205 is 
amended as follows:

PART 1205--COTTON RESEARCH AND PROMOTION

    1. The authority citation for Part 1205 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2101-2118.

    2. In Sec. 1205.510, paragraph (b)(3) is revised to read as 
follows:


Sec. 1205.510  Levy of assessments.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (3) The following table contains Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) 
classification numbers and corresponding conversion factors and 
assessments. The left column of the following table indicates the HTS 
classifications of imported cotton and cotton-containing products 
subject to assessment. The center column indicates the conversion 
factor for determining the raw fiber content for each kilogram of the 
HTS. HTS numbers for raw cotton have no conversion factor in the table. 
The right column indicates the total assessment per kilogram of the 
article assessed.
    (i) Any line item entry of cotton appearing on Customs entry 
documentation in which the value of the cotton contained therein is 
less than $220.99 will not be subject to assessments as described in 
this section.
    (ii) In the event that any HTS number subject to assessment is 
changed and such change is merely a replacement of a previous number 
and has no impact on the physical properties, description, or cotton 
content of the product involved, assessments will continue to be 
collected based on the new number.
* * * * *
    Dated: June 27, 1994.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-16061 Filed 6-30-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P