[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 187 (Tuesday, September 28, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57822-57824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21629]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 989

[Docket No. FV04-989-3 FIR]


Raisins Produced From Grapes Grown in California; Change to 
Reporting Requirements Regarding Other Seedless Raisins

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final 
rule, without change, an interim final rule changing the reporting 
requirements regarding Other Seedless (OS) raisins under the Federal 
marketing order for California raisins (order). The order regulates the 
handling of raisins produced from grapes grown in California and is 
administered locally by the Raisin Administrative Committee (RAC). The 
order provides authority for volume and quality regulations and 
reporting requirements by varietal type of raisin. The OS varietal type 
includes raisins produced from Flame Seedless (Flames) and other red 
grapes. This rule requires handlers to report to the RAC information on 
acquisitions, shipments, inventories, and inter-handler transfers of 
the different types of OS raisins, including Flames. The RAC will 
evaluate this data to determine whether segregating Flames into a 
separate varietal type is warranted.

DATES: Effective October 28, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maureen T. Pello, Senior Marketing 
Specialist, California Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order 
Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 2202 
Monterey Street, suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone: (559) 
487-5901, Fax: (559) 487-5906; or George Kelhart, Technical Advisor, 
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 
20250-0237; telephone: (202) 720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-8938.
    Small businesses may request information on complying with this 
regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration 
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence 
Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington DC 20250-0237; telephone: (202) 720-
2491, Fax: (202) 720-8938, or E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 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 marketing 
agreement and order are 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 (USDA) is issuing this rule in 
conformance with Executive Order 12866.
    This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil 
Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive effect. 
This 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 USDA 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 
request a modification of the order or to be exempted therefrom. Such 
handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the petition. 
After the hearing USDA 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 or her principal place of 
business, has jurisdiction to review USDA's ruling on the petition, 
provided an action is filed not later than 20 days after the date of 
the entry of the ruling.
    This rule continues in effect revisions to the reporting 
requirements regarding OS raisins under the order. The order provides 
authority for volume and quality regulations and reporting requirements 
by varietal type of raisin. The OS varietal type includes raisins 
produced from Flames and other red grapes. This rule continues to 
require handlers to report to the RAC information on acquisitions, 
shipments, inventories, and inter-handler transfers of the different 
types of OS raisins, including Flames. The RAC will evaluate this data 
to determine whether segregating Flames into a separate varietal type 
is warranted. This action was unanimously recommended by the RAC at a 
meeting on April 13, 2004.
    Section 989.73 of the order provides authority for the RAC to 
collect reports from handlers. Paragraph (d) of that section provides 
that, upon request of the RAC, with approval by the Secretary, handlers 
shall furnish to the RAC other information as may be necessary to 
enable it to exercise its powers and perform its duties. The RAC meets 
routinely to make decisions on various programs authorized under the 
order such as volume regulation and quality control. The RAC utilizes 
information collected under the order in its decisionmaking. Section 
989.173 of the order's administrative rules and regulations specifies 
certain reports that handlers are currently required to submit to the 
RAC.
    Many of the reports submitted by handlers under the order require 
information to be segregated by varietal type of raisin. Section 989.10 
defines varietal type to mean raisins generally recognized as 
possessing characteristics differing from other raisins in a degree 
sufficient enough to warrant separate identification and 
classification. Section 989.110 of the order's administrative rules and 
regulations contains a list and description of the nine varietal types 
currently segregated under the order.
    One of these varietal types, OS raisins, includes raisins produced 
from Flames and other similar seedless red grapes. There has been some 
discussion in recent years regarding whether Flames should be 
segregated into a separate varietal type. Between the 1995-96 and 2000-
01 crop years, volume regulation had not been implemented for OS 
raisins, and handlers were able to market all of the OS raisins they 
acquired. During this

[[Page 57823]]

period, some handlers had expanded their market for Flames. When volume 
regulation was in effect for OS raisins for the 2001-02 crop year, some 
Flame handlers had difficulty meeting their market needs.
    Thus, the RAC recommended revising the order's regulations to 
require handlers to report data on acquisitions, shipments 
(dispositions), inventories, and inter-handler transfers of Flames and 
other OS raisins to the RAC beginning with the 2004-05 crop year, which 
started on August 1, 2004. The RAC will review this information and 
determine whether segregating Flames into a separate varietal type is 
warranted. A separate varietal type would allow the RAC to consider the 
application of the order's volume regulation provisions for Flames 
separate from the other types of OS raisins. Accordingly, paragraphs 
(a) (inventory), (b) (acquisitions), (c) dispositions, and (d) inter-
handler transfers in Sec.  989.173 continue to be revised. Paragraph 
(g) in Sec.  989.173 regarding similar reports for organic raisins also 
continues to be revised.

Final 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 action on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has 
prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
    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 order and approximately 4,500 raisin 
producers in the regulated area. Small agricultural firms are defined 
by the Small Business Administration (13 CFR 121.201) as those having 
annual receipts of less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural 
producers are defined as those having annual receipts of less than 
$750,000. Thirteen of the 20 handlers subject to regulation have annual 
sales estimated to be at least $5,000,000, and the remaining 7 handlers 
have sales less than $5,000,000. No more than 7 handlers, and a 
majority of producers, of California raisins may be classified as small 
entities.
    This rule continues to revise Sec.  989.173 to require handlers to 
report acquisitions, shipments, inventories, and inter-handler 
transfers of the different types of raisins within the OS varietal 
type. This action is needed so that the RAC can collect accurate data 
on Flames, a particular type of OS raisin, and evaluate this 
information to determine whether Flames should be segregated into a 
separate varietal type under the order. This would permit the RAC to 
consider application of the order's volume regulation provisions to 
Flames separate from the other types of OS raisins. Authority for this 
action is provided in Sec.  989.73 of the order.
    Regarding the impact of this action on affected entities, this 
action imposes no measurable burden on OS raisin handlers. OS handlers 
will be required to separate out different types of OS raisins on 
reports that they are already submitting to the RAC. Most handlers have 
been doing this voluntarily in recent years. This action has no impact 
on raisin producers.
    The RAC considered alternatives to the recommended action. The RAC 
formed a work group to review the concerns raised by Flame handlers. 
One alternative considered was to proceed with informal rulemaking to 
establish a separate varietal type for Flames. Another alternative 
considered was to try to have all handlers voluntarily separate Flames 
from the other OS raisins on certain reports. After much discussion, 
the work group determined that the best course of action would be to 
collect data on Flames, evaluate the data, and then determine whether 
segregating Flames into a separate varietal type was warranted.
    This rule continues to slightly modify the reporting requirements 
on small and large raisin handlers. All raisin handlers are required to 
submit various reports to the RAC where the data collected are 
segregated by varietal type of raisin. These reports include:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Form Nos.                               Form
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RAC-1........................  Weekly Report of Standard Raisin
                                Acquisitions.
RAC-3........................  Weekly Report of Standard Raisins
                                Received for Memorandum Receipt or
                                Warehousing.
RAC-20.......................  Monthly Report of Free Tonnage Raisin
                                Disposition.
RAC-30.......................  Weekly Off-Grade Summary.
RAC-50.......................  Inventory of Free Tonnage Standard
                                Quality Raisins on Hand.
RAC-51.......................  Inventory of Off-Grade Raisins on Hand.
RAC-1 CO.....................  Weekly Report of Organic Raisin
                                Acquisitions.
RAC-20 CO....................  Monthly Report of Free Tonnage Organic
                                Raisin Disposition.
RAC-50 CO....................  Inventory of Free Tonnage Standard
                                Quality Organic Raisins on Hand.
RAC-51 CO....................  Inventory of Off-Grade Raisins on Hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This rule continues to require that an extra line item be added to 
these 10 forms so that handlers can separate out Flames from the other 
types of OS raisins. Handlers will also continue to be required to 
indicate the type of OS raisin on the Inter-Handler Transfers of Free 
Tonnage Raisins (RAC-6), the Monthly Free Tonnage Exports by Country of 
Destination (RAC-21), and the Monthly Free Organic Tonnage Exports by 
Country of Destination (RAC-21 CO); no change to these forms is needed. 
The current total annual burden for all 13 of these forms is 873.48 
hours. This rule will not add to this burden on handlers.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the information collection requirements referenced above 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
OMB Control No. 0581-0178, Vegetable and Specialty Crops. As with all 
Federal marketing order programs, reports and forms are periodically 
reviewed to reduce information requirements and duplication by industry 
and public sector agencies. Finally, USDA has not identified any 
relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap or conflict with this 
rule.
    Further, the RAC's work group meetings on February 12 and March 4, 
2004, the Administrative Issues Subcommittee and RAC meetings on April 
13, 2004, and the RAC's Executive Committee meeting on May 4, 2004, 
where this action was deliberated were all public meetings widely 
publicized throughout the raisin industry. All

[[Page 57824]]

interested persons were invited to attend the meetings and participate 
in the industry's deliberations.
    An interim final rule concerning this action was published in the 
Federal Register on July 9, 2004. Copies of the rule were mailed by RAC 
staff to all RAC members and raisin handlers. In addition, the rule was 
made available through the Internet by USDA and the Office of the 
Federal Register. That rule provided for a 60-day comment period which 
ended September 7, 2004. No comments were received.
    A small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and 
specialty crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html. Any questions about the compliance 
guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at the previously mentioned address 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
    After consideration of all relevant material presented, including 
the information and recommendation submitted by the RAC and other 
available information, it is hereby found that finalizing the interim 
rule, without change, as published in the Federal Register (69 FR 
41385, July 9, 2004) will tend to effectuate the declared policy of the 
Act.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 989

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

PART 989--RAISINS PRODUCED FROM GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

0
Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 989 which was 
published at 69 FR 41385 on July 9, 2004, is adopted as a final rule 
without change.

    Dated: September 22, 2004.
A.J. Yates,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 04-21629 Filed 9-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P