[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12403-12406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5542]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 989

[FV95-989-1IFR]


Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown In California; Final Free and 
Reserve Percentages for the 1994-95 Crop Year for Zante Currant and 
Other Seedless Raisins

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This interim final rule invites comments on the establishment 
of final free and reserve percentages for 1994 crop Zante Currant and 
Other Seedless raisins. The percentages are 40 percent free and 60 
percent reserve for each of these varietal types. These percentages are 
intended to stabilize supplies and prices and to help counter the 
destabilizing effects of the burdensome oversupply situation facing the 
raisin industry. This rule was recommended by the Raisin Administrative 
Committee (Committee), the body which locally administers the marketing 
order.

 [[Page 12404]] DATES: This interim final rule becomes effective March 
7, 1995, and applies to all Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins 
acquired from the beginning of the 1994-95 crop year. Comments which 
are received by April 6, 1995 will be considered prior to any 
finalization of this interim final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this action. Comments must be sent in triplicate to the 
Docket Clerk, Fruit and Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, 
P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456, or faxed to 202-720-5698. 
Comments should reference the docket number and the date and page 
number of this issue of the Federal Register and will be made available 
for public inspection in the Office of the Docket Clerk during regular 
business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Van Diest, Marketing 
Specialist, California Marketing Field Office, Fruit and Vegetable 
Division, AMS, USDA, 2202 Monterey Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, 
California 93721; telephone: (209) 487-5901; or Mark A. Slupek, 
Marketing Specialist, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, Room 2523-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, 
DC 20090-6456; telephone: 202-205-2830.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule is issued under 
Marketing Agreement and Order No. 989 (7 CFR part 989), both as 
amended, regulating the handling of raisins produced from grapes grown 
in California, hereinafter referred to as the ``order.'' The order is 
effective under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act.''
    The Department of Agriculture (Department) is issuing this rule in 
conformance with Executive Order 12866.
    This interim final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 
12778, Civil Justice Reform. Under the marketing order provisions now 
in effect, final free and reserve percentages may be established for 
raisins acquired by handlers during the crop year. This rule 
establishes final free and reserve percentages for Zante Currant and 
Other Seedless raisins for the 1994-95 crop year, beginning August 1, 
1994, through July 31, 1995. This interim final rule will 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 608c(15)(A) of the 
Act, any handler 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 requesting a modification of the order or to be exempt 
therefrom. Such handler 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 handler is an inhabitant, or has his/her 
principal place of business, has jurisdiction in equity to review the 
Secretary's ruling on the petition, provided a bill in equity is filed 
not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of the ruling.
    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service 
(AMS) has considered the economic impact of this action on small 
entities.
    The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of 
business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will 
not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued 
pursuant to the Act, and rules issued thereunder, are unique in that 
they are brought about through group action of essentially small 
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 
entity orientation and compatibility.
    There are approximately 20 handlers of California raisins who are 
subject to regulation under the raisin marketing order, and 
approximately 4,500 producers in the regulated area. Small agricultural 
service firms have been defined by the Small Business Administration 
(13 CFR 121.601) as those whose annual receipts are less than 
$5,000,000, and small agricultural producers are defined as those 
having annual receipts of less than $500,000. A minority of handlers 
and a majority of producers of California raisins may be classified as 
small entities.
    The order prescribes procedures for computing trade demands and 
preliminary and final percentages that establish the amount of raisins 
that can be marketed throughout the season. The regulations apply to 
all handlers of California raisins. Raisins in the free percentage 
category may be shipped immediately to any market, while reserve 
raisins must be held by handlers in a reserve pool for the account of 
the Committee, which is responsible for local administration of the 
order. Under the order, reserve raisins may be: Sold at a later date by 
the Committee to handlers for free use; used in diversion programs; 
exported to authorized countries; carried over as a hedge against a 
short crop the following year; or disposed of in other outlets 
noncompetitive with those for free tonnage raisins.
    While this rule may restrict the amount of Zante Currant and Other 
Seedless raisins that enter domestic markets, final free and reserve 
percentages are intended to lessen the impact of the oversupply 
situation facing the industry and promote stronger marketing 
conditions, thus stabilizing prices and supplies and improving grower 
returns. In addition to the quantity of raisins released under the 
preliminary percentages and the final percentages, the order specifies 
methods to make available additional raisins to handlers by requiring 
sales of reserve pool raisins for use as free tonnage raisins under 
``10 plus 10'' offers, and authorizing sales of reserve raisins under 
certain conditions.
    The Department's ``Guidelines for Fruit, Vegetable, and Specialty 
Crop Marketing Orders'' specifies that 110 percent of recent years' 
sales should be made available to primary markets each season before 
recommendations for volume regulation are approved. This goal is met by 
the establishment of a final percentage which releases 100 percent of 
the trade demand and the additional release of reserve raisins to 
handlers under ``10 plus 10'' offers. The ``10 plus 10'' offers are two 
simultaneous offers of reserve pool raisins which are made available to 
handlers each season. For each such offer, a quantity of raisins equal 
to 10 percent of the prior year's shipments is made available for free 
use.
    Pursuant to section 989.54 of the order, the Committee met on 
August 15, 1994, to review shipment and inventory data, and other 
matters relating to the supplies of raisins of all varietal types. The 
Committee computed a trade demand for each varietal type for which a 
free tonnage percentage might be recommended. The trade demand is 90 
percent of the prior year's shipments of free tonnage and reserve 
tonnage raisins sold for free use for each varietal type into all 
market outlets, adjusted by subtracting the carryin of each varietal 
type on August 1 of the current crop year and by adding to the trade 
demand the desirable carryout for each varietal type at the end of that 
crop year. As specified in section 989.154, the desirable carryout for 
each varietal type shall be equal to the shipments of free tonnage 
raisins of the prior crop year during the months of August, September, 
and one half of October. If [[Page 12405]] the prior year's shipments 
are limited because of crop conditions, the total shipments during that 
period of time during one of the three years preceding the prior crop 
year may be used. In accordance with these provisions, the Committee 
computed and announced a 1994-95 trade demand of 787 tons for Other 
Seedless raisins.
    Section 989.54 of the order also authorizes the Committee to 
consider factors which pertain to the marketing of raisins, including 
an estimated trade demand which differs from the computed trade demand. 
At its August 15, 1994, meeting, the Committee computed a trade demand 
of 500 tons for Zante Currants. The Committee, however, determined that 
anticipated changes in the market conditions for Zante Currants 
warranted an estimated trade demand substantially higher than this.
    Entering this season, the California raisin industry was carrying a 
very large supply of 1992-93 and 1993-94 crop Zante Currants and 
projected a record production in 1994-95. The Committee recommended 
actions to help handlers sell their tonnage at prices competitive with 
other currant prices in domestic and export markets. Because of these 
actions, the Committee believed that the computed trade demand was 
insufficient and decided to calculate its percentages based on an 
estimated trade demand of 2,200 tons.
    When the Committee met on October 5, 1994, the field price for 
Zante Currants had been established, but the field price for Other 
Seedless raisins had not. Section 989.54(b) of the order requires the 
Committee to compute percentages which release 85 percent of the trade 
demand for varieties for which field prices have been established and 
65 percent for varieties which have not. Thus, when the Committee met 
on that date, it computed and announced preliminary crop estimates and 
preliminary free and reserve percentages for Zante Currant and Other 
Seedless raisins which released 85 percent and 65 percent of the trade 
demands, respectively. The preliminary crop estimates and preliminary 
free and reserve percentages were as follows: 6,074 tons, 31 percent 
free and 69 percent reserve for Zante Currants; and 4,073 tons, 13 
percent free and 87 percent reserve for Other Seedless Raisins. The 
Committee also authorized the Committee staff to increase the 
preliminary percentages to release 85 percent of the trade demands for 
varietal types without established field prices when the field prices 
were established. For Other Seedless raisins, the preliminary 
percentages were adjusted soon thereafter to 16 percent free and 84 
percent reserve.
    Also at that meeting, the Committee computed and announced 
preliminary crop estimates and preliminary free and reserve percentages 
for Dipped Seedless, Oleate and Related Seedless, Sultana, Muscat, 
Monukka, and Golden Seedless raisins. On January 12, 1995, the 
Committee decided that volume control percentages only were warranted 
for Zante Currant, Other Seedless, and Natural (sun-dried) Seedless 
raisins. The Committee delayed announcing final percentages for Natural 
(sun-dried) Seedless raisins until more shipment and production 
information was available. It determined that the supplies of the other 
varietal types would be less than or close enough to the computed trade 
demands for each of these varietals. Thus, volume control percentages 
would not be necessary to maintain market stability.
    Pursuant to section 989.54(c), the Committee may adopt interim free 
and reserve percentages. Interim percentages may release less than the 
computed trade demand for each varietal type. Interim percentages for 
both Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins of 39.75 percent free and 
60.25 percent reserve were computed and announced on January 12, 1995. 
That action released most, but not all, of the computed trade demand 
for Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins.
    Under section 989.54(d) of the order, the Committee is required to 
recommend to the Secretary, no later than February 15 of each crop 
year, final free and reserve percentages which, when applied to the 
final production estimate of a varietal type, will tend to release the 
full trade demand for any varietal type.
    The Committee's estimates, as of January 12, 1995, of 1994-95 
production of Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins are 5,507 and 
1,973 tons, respectively. For Zante Currants, dividing the estimated 
trade demand of 2,200 tons by the final estimate of production results 
in a final free percentage of 40 percent and a final reserve percentage 
of 60 percent. For Other Seedless raisins, dividing the computed trade 
demand of 787 tons by the final estimate of production results in a 
final free percentage of 40 percent and a final reserve percentage of 
60 percent.
    Based on available information, the Administrator of the AMS has 
determined that the issuance of this interim final rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    After consideration of all relevant information presented, 
including the Committee's recommendations and other information, it is 
found that this regulation, as hereinafter set forth, will tend to 
effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also found and determined that upon 
good cause it is impracticable, 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 this rule until 30 days after publication in the Federal 
Register because: (1) The relevant provisions of this part require that 
the percentages designated herein for the 1994-95 crop year apply to 
all Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins acquired from the 
beginning of that crop year; (2) handlers are currently marketing 1994-
95 crop raisins of the Zante Currant and Other Seedless varietal types 
and this action should be taken promptly to achieve the intended 
purpose of making the full trade demand available to handlers; (3) 
handlers are aware of this action, which was recommended by the 
Committee at an open meeting, and need no additional time to comply 
with these percentages; and (4) this interim final rule provides a 30-
day period for written comments and all comments received will be 
considered prior to finalization of this interim final rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989

    Grapes, Marketing agreements, Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 989 is 
amended as follows:

PART 989--RAISINS PRODUCED FROM GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 989 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    2. Section 989.247 is added to Subpart--Supplementary Regulations 
to read as follows:

    Note: This section will not appear in the annual Code of Federal 
Regulations.


Sec. 989.247  Final free and reserve percentages for the 1994-95 crop 
year.

    The final percentages for Zante Currant and Other Seedless raisins 
acquired by handlers during the crop year beginning on August 1, 1994, 
which shall be free tonnage and reserve tonnage, respectively, are 
designated as follows:

                                                                        
[[Page 12406]]                                                          
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                                                        Free            
                     Percentage                      percentage  Reserve
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Zante Currant......................................         40        60
Other Seedless.....................................         40        60
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    Dated: March 1, 1995.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 95-5542 Filed 3-6-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-W