[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7443]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 27, 1996 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 13463]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 920
[Docket No. FV96-920-1]
Kiwifruit Grown in California; Continuance Referendum
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Referendum order.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This document directs that a referendum be conducted among
eligible growers of California kiwifruit to determine whether they
favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of
kiwifruit grown in the production area.
DATES: The referendum will be conducted from June 3 through June 21,
1996. To vote in this referendum, growers must have been producing
California kiwifruit during the period August 1, 1995, through May 31,
1996.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the text of the aforesaid marketing order may be
obtained from the office of the referendum agent at 2202 Monterey
Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721, or the Office of the
Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington,
DC 20090-6456.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Aguayo, California Marketing
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, Agriculture Marketing Service, USDA, 2202 Monterey
Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone (209) 487-5901;
or Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and
Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, room 2536-S,
P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone (202) 720-5127.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Marketing Order No. 920 (7 CFR
Part 920), hereinafter referred to as the ``order'' and the applicable
provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as
amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act,'' it
is hereby directed that a referendum be conducted to ascertain whether
continuance of the order is favored by growers. The referendum shall be
conducted during the period June 3 through June 21, 1996, among
California kiwifruit growers in the production area. Only growers who
were engaged in the production of California kiwifruit during the
period of August 1, 1995, through May 31, 1996, may participate in the
continuance referendum.
The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) has determined that
continuance referenda are an effective means for ascertaining whether
growers favor continuation of marketing order programs. The Secretary
would consider termination of the order if less than two-thirds of the
growers voting in the referendum and growers of less than two-thirds of
the volume of California kiwifruit represented in the referendum favor
continuance. In evaluating the merits of continuance versus
termination, the Secretary will not only consider the results of the
continuance referendum. The Secretary will also consider all other
relevant information concerning the operation of the order and the
relative benefits and disadvantages to growers, handlers, and consumers
in order to determine whether continued operation of the order would
tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
In any event, section 8c(16)(B) of the Act requires the Secretary
to terminate an order whenever the Secretary finds that a majority of
all growers affected by the order favor termination, and such majority
produced for market more than 50 percent of the commodity covered under
such order.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L.
104-13), the ballot materials to be used in the referendum herein
ordered have been submitted to and approved by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB No. 0581-0149 for
California kiwifruit. It has been estimated that it will take an
average of 20 minutes for each of the approximately 500 growers of
California kiwifruit to cast a ballot. Participation is voluntary.
Ballots postmarked after June 21, 1996 will not be included in the vote
tabulation.
Rose M. Aguayo and Kurt J. Kimmel of the California Marketing Field
Office, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Service,
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), are hereby designated
as the referendum agents of the Secretary to conduct such referendum.
The procedure applicable to the referendum shall be the ``Procedure for
the Conduct of Referenda in Connection With Marketing Orders for Fruit,
Vegetables, and Nuts Pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement
Act of 1937, as Amended'' (7 CFR Part 900.400 et seq.).
Ballots will be mailed to all growers of record and may also be
obtained from the referendum agents and from their appointees.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 920
Kiwifruit, Marketing agreements.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
Dated: March 20, 1996.
Michael V. Dunn,
Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-7443 Filed 3-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P