[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50241-50244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25411]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 999

[Docket No. FV97-999-1 IFR]


Specialty Crops; Import Regulations; Extension of Reporting 
Period for Peanuts Imported Under 1997 Import Quotas

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This rule removes the 23-day reporting requirement and 
establishes a new date for importers to report disposition of peanuts 
imported under 1997 peanut import quotas. This rule also establishes a 
120-day reporting period for any peanuts imported after the 1997 import 
quotas are filled. The 23-day reporting period established in the 
import regulation is impractical given the volume of peanuts imported 
under January 1 and April 1 peanut import quotas. This is an 
administrative change for the 1997 peanut quota periods only. This rule 
is deemed necessary by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to 
provide peanut importers with sufficient time to meet the quality and 
reporting requirements of the peanut import regulation.

DATES: Effective Setpember 29, 1997. Comments received by October 27, 
1997 will be considered prior to issuance of a 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, P.O. Box 96456, 
room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456; fax 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: Tom Tichenor, Senior Marketing 
Specialist, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 
Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-
6456; tel: (202) 720-6862; fax (202) 720-5698. Small businesses may 
request information on compliance with this regulation by contacting 
Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 
Division, AMS, USDA, room 2525-S, P.O. Box

[[Page 50242]]

96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 
720-5698.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This interim final rule amends the peanut 
import regulation published in the June 19, 1996, issue of the Federal 
Register (61 FR 31306, 7 CFR part 999.600), which regulates the quality 
of imported peanuts. An amendment to the regulation was issued December 
31, 1996 (62 FR 1249, January 9, 1997). The import regulation is 
effective under subparagraph (f)(2) of section 108B of the Agricultural 
Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445c-3), as amended November 28, 1990, and 
August 10, 1993, and section 155 of the Federal Agriculture Improvement 
and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7271). Those statutes provide that the 
Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) shall require that all peanuts in 
the domestic and export markets fully comply with all quality standards 
under Marketing Agreement No. 146 (7 CFR part 998) (Agreement), issued 
pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674).
    This rule has been determined 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 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. Under the regulations, disposition of imported peanuts 
must be reported to AMS within an established time period. This rule 
changes that time period and is intended to apply to Mexican peanuts 
imported from January 1, 1997, to December 31, 1997, and to Argentine 
and ``other country'' peanuts imported from April 1, 1997, to March 31, 
1998. This rule will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, 
or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this 
rule. There are no administrative procedures which must be exhausted 
prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.
    This interim final rule amends, for the 1997 peanut quota year, a 
provision in Sec. 999.600 of the regulations governing imported peanuts 
(7 CFR part 999--Specialty Crops; Import Regulations). Section 999.600 
establishes minimum quality, identification, certification, and 
safeguard requirements for foreign produced farmers stock, shelled and 
cleaned-inshell peanuts presented for importation into the United 
States. The quality requirements are the same as those specified in 
Sec. 998.100 Incoming quality regulation and Sec. 998.200 Outgoing 
quality regulation of the Agreement.

Discussion

    The import regulation was finalized June 19, 1996 (61 FR 31306). At 
that time, three duty-free peanut quotas for 1996 had been filled and 
no peanuts were entered under duty for the remainder of 1996. 
Therefore, the peanut import regulation had its first practical 
application with the opening of the Mexican peanut quota on January 1, 
1997.
    Under the safeguard procedures, importers are required to report to 
AMS disposition of all imported peanuts. Paragraph (f)(3) of the 
regulations sets a 23 day period for filing certificates of inspection 
and aflatoxin testing. Sixty day extensions are possible, but requests 
for these must be filed within the 23-day reporting period. The 
reporting period and procedures for extension were established with the 
expectation that three duty-free quotas would fill gradually during the 
quota year. However, this did not occur. The Mexican quota of 8.1 
million pounds closed approximately 5 weeks after the January 1, 1997 
opening. The Argentine quota of 73.5 million pounds and the ``other 
country'' quota of 13.3 million pounds filled immediately at 12:00 noon 
on opening day, April 1, 1997. Importers' applications to enter peanuts 
under the Argentine and ``other country'' quotas greatly exceeded the 
quota volumes for these countries. After pro-rata distribution of those 
quotas (based on the total peanut volume in each importer's entry 
applications), the Customs Service set April 15 as the entry date for 
approximately 86.8 million pounds of peanuts under the two quotas.
    Because of the large volume of peanuts simultaneously released on 
April 15, 1997, importers have been unable to meet the 23-day reporting 
deadline for many of their imported lots. Obstacles to expedient 
certification of such large volumes of imported peanuts included: (1) 
Logistics of moving containers out of some congested port areas and 
into storage; (2) arranging for sampling and inspection, and receiving 
certifications; and (3) arranging for and transporting failing lots to 
facilities for reconditioning and recertification.
    Therefore, this rule establishes a new reporting date of November 
1, 1997, for reporting disposition of all peanuts entered under the 
1997 import quotas. It also provides for an extension of the reporting 
period beyond November 1. Requests for extensions must be made in 
writing and include the Customs Service entry number, container and lot 
information for the unreported peanut lot(s), and the reason for delay 
in meeting the November 1 reporting date. AMS will evaluate each 
request on a case-by-case basis.
    Peanuts may continue to be imported into the United States after 
the import quotas are closed (with payment of tariff charges). 
Therefore, this rule also provides that disposition of any peanuts 
imported after the 1997 import quotas close must be reported within 120 
days after the peanuts are entered by the Customs Service.
    As a compliance measure, paragraph (f)(4) provided that the 
Secretary would ask the Customs Service to demand redelivery of peanut 
lots not reported as meeting the requirements of the import regulation. 
Because this rule extends the reporting period beyond the Customs 
Service 30-day redelivery demand period, the first three sentences in 
paragraph (f)(4) are not applicable for peanuts entered under the three 
1997 import quotas. Those sentences are therefore removed in this 
rulemaking. The remainder of paragraph (4) regarding failure to comply 
with the import regulation and falsification of reports is retained.
    To help ensure a practicable and workable peanut import regulation, 
the procedures in the regulation will be reviewed after the 1997 
entries have been closed out. Thus, paragraphs (f)(3) and (f)(4) may be 
further amended, if necessary, prior to opening of the 1998 peanut 
import quotas.
    These changes do not affect the stamp-and-fax procedure established 
in paragraph (f)(1) of the safeguard provisions. That procedure ensures 
notification of the Federal or Federal-State Inspection Service of 
applications to import peanuts. This rule also does not change the 
safeguard requirement that all imported lots must be reported. Pursuant 
to paragraph (f)(1), all imported peanuts must be reported to AMS--
including those peanut lots that meet import requirements. Paragraph 
(f)(2) provides that the quality and aflatoxin certifications and other 
documentation must be sent by regular mail to: Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, Room 2525-S, 
Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, ``Attention: Report of Imported Peanuts.'' 
Overnight or express mail reports may be sent to Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, F&V, AMS, USDA , 14th and Independence Avenue, 
S.W., Room 2525-S, Washington, D.C. 20250, ``Attention: Report of 
Imported Peanuts.''

[[Page 50243]]

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the 
economic impact of this interim final rule on small entities. 
Accordingly, AMS has prepared this initial regulatory flexibility 
analysis relevant to this rulemaking.
    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. AMS records for 1997 show 
that approximately ten importers of peanuts were large handlers of 
domestically grown peanuts and six were importers of general food 
commodities, some of whom may be small entities. Small agricultural 
service firms, which include importers, have been defined by the Small 
Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those whose annual receipts 
are less than $5 million. Although small business entities may be 
engaged in the importation of peanuts, the majority of the importers 
are large business entities.
    This rule extends for the 1997 quota periods only the time period 
for importers to meet import requirements for each lot of imported 
peanuts and file reports on the disposition of those peanuts. The 
reporting requirements are an integral part of the safeguard procedures 
specified in the import regulation, which is required by statute. The 
requirements are applied uniformly to small as well as large importers.
    The previous reporting time period was 23 days. The new reporting 
time period ends on November 1, 1997. This change represents an 
increase, depending on date of entry of a peanut lot, of up to 280 days 
for Mexican peanut imports (entered on January 1) and 175 days for 
Argentine and ``other country'' peanuts (all of which were entered on 
April 15). The rule also extends the reporting period for all other 
peanut entries during the 1997 quota year from 23 days to 120 days. The 
additional time to meet requirements should enable importers to more 
efficiently manage movement and disposition of their imported peanuts.
    It is not possible to estimate cost savings that might result from 
any increased efficiency of operations because of this action. 
Extension requests, when properly requested, already have been granted 
by AMS. The rule will benefit importers of large quantities of peanuts 
by relieving the time pressure to have multiple lots certified, and 
many lots reconditioned, within a very short time period. The rule also 
will benefit small importers who do not have peanut handling resources 
and must contract with remillers and blanchers to recondition failing 
peanut lots. Records indicate that some importers, including small 
importers, are outside the domestic peanut production area, and must 
transport failing lots long distances for reconditioning.
    Alternative reporting time periods were considered by AMS. For the 
purposes of clarity, AMS believes that a single date, applicable to all 
1997 entries under the quota is less confusing than 60 or 90 days from 
the release date of a peanut lot by the Customs Service. Sixty days are 
considered too short, as some peanut lots entered on April 15 are being 
inspected for the first time more than two months later. Also, 
necessary reconditioning efforts, with appropriate sampling and re-
inspections after each attempt may take longer than 60 days. Extensions 
may be requested for individual lots not certified by the end of their 
applicable reporting period.
    Experience shows that few, if any, peanuts will be imported after 
the quotas are filled. However, any such imports would be handled in a 
more routine manner and normal pace than when the great volumes are 
released simultaneously on quota opening days. Thus, the 120-day 
requirement for any peanuts imported after the quotas are filled is 
deemed reasonable by AMS.
    For these reasons, AMS has determined that this action will be 
beneficial to all importers, both large and small.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35) as amended in 1995, the information requirements contained 
in this rule was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
on September 3, 1996, and assigned OMB number 0581-0176. This rule does 
not establish new reporting or recordkeeping requirements. The current 
annual reporting burden for importers is estimated at 12 hours. Those 
affected by this rule have already reported entries and requested 
extensions of deadlines for reporting peanuts entered under the 1997 
import quotas. Further, because no additional 1997 peanut imports are 
expected, there should be no need to file additional reports other than 
the final report of all entries, which is included in the approved 12 
hour reporting burden.
    Paragraph (f)(3) of the rule is revised for the 1997 import periods 
only. All certificates and other documents reporting the disposition of 
passing, as well as failing and reconditioned, peanut lots must be 
reported to AMS by November 1, 1997. This reporting date applies to 
only AMS' peanut import regulation and does not supersede other 
reporting dates for those peanuts that may be established by the 
Customs Service or other agencies. For peanuts imported after the 
quotas are filled, this rule extends the reporting period from 23 to 
120 days, thus, reducing or eliminating the burden of requesting an 
extension of the reporting period.
    Interested persons are invited to submit information on the 
regulatory and informational impacts of this action on small 
businesses. This rule also invites comments on an extension in the time 
period for reporting dispositions of imported peanuts. Written comments 
timely received will be considered prior to finalization of this rule.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is found and determined upon good 
cause that 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) This rule relaxes the reporting requirements of the import 
regulation; (2) some importers of 1997 import quota peanuts have 
already been authorized 60-day extensions of the reporting period; and 
(3) this rule provides a 30-day comment period and all written comments 
timely received will be considered prior to finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 999

    Dates, Food grades and standards, Hazelnuts, Imports, Nuts, 
Peanuts, Prunes, Raisins, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Walnuts.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 999 is 
amended as follows:

PART 999--SPECIALTY CROPS; IMPORT REGULATIONS

    1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 999 is revised to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674, 7 U.S.C. 1445c-3, and 7 U.S.C. 
7271.

    2. In Sec. 999.600, paragraphs (f)(3) and (f)(4) are revised to 
read as follows:


Sec. 999.600  Regulation governing imports of peanuts.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (3) Certificates and other documentation showing disposition of 
peanuts imported under 1997 import quotas, consistent with the 
requirements

[[Page 50244]]

of this section, must be filed by November 1, 1997. Disposition of 
peanuts imported in excess of the 1997 peanut import quotas must be 
filed within 120 days of the peanuts' entry by the Customs Service. 
Extension of these reporting periods must be granted by the AMS on a 
case by case basis upon a showing that such extension would be 
justified. Requests for extension must be submitted in writing to the 
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Division, 
AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-6456, 
Attn: Peanut Imports or faxing the request to (202) 720-5698. An 
extension request must include the Customs Service entry number, 
relevant grade and aflatoxin certificates (if any) issued on the 
outstanding peanuts, and the reasons for delay in obtaining final 
disposition of the peanuts.
    (4) Failure to fully comply with quality and handling requirements 
or failure to notify the Secretary of disposition of all foreign 
produced peanuts, as required under this section, may result in a 
compliance investigation by the Secretary. Falsification of reports 
submitted to the Secretary is a violation of Federal law punishable by 
fine or imprisonment, or both.
* * * * *
    Dated: September 19, 1997.
Robert C. Keeney,
Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
[FR Doc. 97-25411 Filed 9-24-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P