[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 38 (Monday, February 26, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7067-7069]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4180]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 989

[FV96-989-1IFR]


Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown in California; Final Free and 
Reserve Percentages for the 1995-96 Crop Year for Natural (Sun-Dried) 
Seedless, 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 establishes final free and reserve 
percentages for 1995-96 crop Natural (sun-dried) Seedless (NS), Zante 
Currant (ZC), and Other Seedless (OS) raisins. The percentages are 79 
percent free and 21 percent reserve, 70 percent free and 30 percent 
reserve, and 51 percent free and 49 percent reserve for NS, ZC, and OS 
raisins, respectively. 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 unanimously recommended by the Raisin Administrative Committee 
(Committee), the body which locally administers the marketing order.

DATES: This interim final rule becomes effective February 26, 1996, and 
applies to all NS, ZC, and OS raisins acquired from the beginning of 
the 1995-96 crop year. Comments which are received by March 27, 1996 
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.


[[Page 7068]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard P. 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 NS, ZC, and OS 
raisins for the 1995-96 crop year, beginning August 1, 1995, through 
July 31, 1996. 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 production area. Small 
agricultural service firms have been defined by the Small Business 
Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those whose annual receipts (from 
all sources) are less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural producers 
are defined as those having annual receipts of less than $500,000. No 
more than eight handlers, and a majority of producers, of California 
raisins may be classified as small entities. Twelve of the 20 handlers 
subject to regulation have annual sales estimated to be at least 
$5,000,000, and the remaining eight handlers have sales less than 
$5,000,000, excluding receipts from any other sources.
    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. 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 NS, ZC, and OS 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 computed 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(a) of the order, the Committee, which is 
responsible for local administration of the order, met on August 15, 
1995, 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 fourth 
of October. If 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 
1995-96 trade demands of 257,314 tons, 2,208 tons, and 1,047 tons for 
NS, ZC, and OS raisins, respectively.
    As required under section 989.54(b) of the order, the Committee met 
on October 3, 1995, and computed and announced preliminary crop 
estimates and preliminary free and reserve percentages for NS and ZC 
raisins which released 65 percent of the trade demand since the field 
prices had not 

[[Page 7069]]
been established, and 85 percent of the trade demand for OS raisins 
because the field price had been established. The preliminary crop 
estimates and preliminary free and reserve percentages were as follows: 
335,118 tons, 50 percent free, and 50 percent reserve for NS raisins; 
3,696 tons, 39 percent free, and 61 percent reserve for ZC raisins; and 
2,197 tons, 40 percent free, and 60 percent reserve for OS raisins. The 
Committee authorized the Committee staff to modify the preliminary 
percentages to release 85 percent of the trade demand when the field 
prices were established for NS and ZC raisins. The preliminary 
percentages for NS and ZC raisins were adjusted soon thereafter to 65 
percent free, 35 percent reserve, and 51 percent free and 49 percent 
reserve, respectively.
    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, Golden Seedless, 
Sultana, Muscat, and Monukka raisins. It determined that the supplies 
of these varietal types would be less than or close enough to the 
computed trade demands for each variety, and that volume control 
percentages would not be necessary to maintain market stability for 
these varietal types.
    On January 12, 1996, the Committee recommended final percentages of 
79 percent free, 21 percent reserve for NS raisins; 70 percent free, 30 
percent reserve for ZC raisins; and 51 percent free, 49 percent reserve 
for OS raisins.
    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. The Committee also 
computed interim free and reserve percentages at the January 12, 1996, 
meeting.
    Interim percentages were announced as 78.75 percent free, 21.25 
percent reserve for NS raisins; 69.75 percent free, 30.25 percent 
reserve for ZC raisins; and 50.75 percent free, 49.25 percent reserve 
for OS raisins. That action released most, but not all, of the computed 
trade demand for NS, ZC, and OS 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 final estimate of 1995-96 production of NS raisins 
is 325,808 tons. Dividing the computed trade demand of 257,314 tons by 
the final estimate of production results in a final free percentage of 
79 percent and a final reserve percentage of 21 percent for NS raisins.
    The Committee's final estimate of 1995-96 production of ZC raisins 
is 3,158 tons. Dividing the computed trade demand of 2,208 tons by the 
final estimate of production results in a final free percentage of 70 
percent and a final reserve percentage of 30 percent for ZC raisins.
    The Committee's final estimate of 1995-96 production of OS raisins 
is 2,048 tons. Dividing the computed trade demand of 1,047 tons by the 
final estimate of production results in a final free percentage of 51 
percent and a final reserve percentage of 49 percent for OS raisins.
    The free and reserve percentages established by this interim final 
rule will apply uniformly to all handlers in the industry, whether 
small or large, and there are no known additional costs incurred by 
small handlers. Although raisin markets are limited, they are available 
to all handlers, regardless of size. The stabilizing effects of the 
percentages impact both small and large handlers positively by helping 
them maintain and expand markets.
    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 1995-96 crop year apply to 
all NS, ZC, and OS raisins acquired from the beginning of that crop 
year; (2) handlers are currently marketing 1995-96 crop raisins of 
these varietal types and this action should be taken promptly to 
achieve the intended purpose of making the full trade demand quantities 
computed by the Committee available to handlers; (3) handlers are aware 
of this action, which was unanimously 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 to read 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 989.249 is added to Subpart--Supplementary Regulations 
to read as follows:

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


Sec. 989.249  Final free and reserve percentages for the 1995-96 crop 
year.

    The final percentages for standard Natural (sun-dried) Seedless, 
Zante Currant, and Other Seedless raisins acquired by handlers during 
the crop year beginning on August 1, 1995, which shall be free tonnage 
and reserve tonnage, respectively, are designated as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Free       Reserve 
                  Varietal type                   percentage  percentage
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natural (sun-dried) Seedless....................         79          21 
Zante Currant...................................         70          30 
Other Seedless..................................         51          49 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Dated: February 20, 1996.
Sharon Bomer Lauritsen,
Deputy Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 96-4180 Filed 2-23-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P