[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6452-6453]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2584]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 29

[TB-94-35]


Tobacco Inspection--Growers Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of referendum.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces that a referendum will be conducted by 
mail during the period of February 6-10, 1995, for producers of flue-
cured tobacco who sell their tobacco at auction in Tifton and 
Fitzgerald-Ocilla, Georgia, to determine producer approval of the 
designation of the Tifton and Fitzgerald-Ocilla tobacco markets as one 
consolidated auction market.

DATES: The referendum will be held February 6-10, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry L. Crabtree, Deputy Director, 
Tobacco Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, United States 
Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; 
telephone number (202) 205-0235.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given of a mail referendum 
on the designation of a consolidated auction market at Tifton and 
Fitzgerald-Ocilla, Georgia. Tifton and Fitzgerald-Ocilla, Georgia, were 
designated on June 26, 1942, and May 29, 1991, respectively, (7 CFR 
29.8001) as flue-cured tobacco auction markets under the Tobacco 
Inspection Act (7 U.S.C. 511 et seq.). Under this Act both have been 
receiving mandatory grading services from USDA.
    On August 30, 1994, an application was made to the Secretary of 
Agriculture to consolidate the designated markets of Tifton and 
Fitzgerald-Ocilla, Georgia. The application, filed by warehouse 
operators in those markets, was made pursuant to the regulations 
promulgated under the Tobacco Inspection Act (7 CFR part 29.1-29.3). On 
November 7, 1994, a public hearing was held in Ocilla, Georgia, 
pursuant to the regulations. A Review Committee, established pursuant 
to Sec. 29.3(h) of the regulations (7 CFR 29.3 (h)), has reviewed and 
considered the application, the testimony presented at the hearing, the 
exhibits received in evidence, and other available information. The 
Committee 

[[Page 6453]]
recommended to the Secretary that the application be granted and the 
Secretary approved the application on January 20, 1995.
    Before a new market can be officially designated, a referendum must 
be held to determine that a two-thirds majority of producers favor the 
designation. It is hereby determined that the referendum will be held 
by mail during the period of February 6-10, 1995. The purpose of the 
referendum is to determine whether farmers who sold their tobacco on 
the designated markets at Tifton and Fitzgerald-Ocilla are in favor of, 
or opposed to, the designation of the consolidated market for the 1995 
and succeeding crop years. Accordingly, if a two-thirds majority of 
those tobacco producers voting in the referendum favor this 
consolidation, a new market will be designated as and will be called 
Tifton-Fitzgerald-Ocilla.
    To be eligible to vote in the referendum a tobacco producer must 
have sold flue-cured tobacco on either the Tifton or Fitzgerald-Ocilla, 
Georgia, auction markets during the 1994 marketing season. Any farmer 
who believes he or she is eligible to vote in the referendum but has 
not received a mail ballot by February 6, 1995, should immediately 
contact Larry L. Crabtree at (202) 205-0235.
    The referendum will be held in accordance with the provisions for 
referenda of the Tobacco Inspection Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 511d) and 
the regulations for such referendum set forth in 7 CFR 29.74.

    Dated: January 27, 1995.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-2584 Filed 2-1-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P