[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 249 (Thursday, December 28, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78044-78046]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22237]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 926

[Docket No. AMS-FV-06-0173; FV06-926-1 IFR]


Data Collection, Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements 
Applicable to Cranberries Not Subject to the Cranberry Marketing Order; 
Suspension of Provisions Under 7 CFR Part 926

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

[[Page 78045]]


ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This rule suspends Part 926 in the Code of Federal 
Regulations, which requires persons engaged in the handling or 
importation of fresh cranberries or cranberry products, but not subject 
to the reporting requirements of the Federal cranberry marketing order 
(7 CFR Part 929), to report sales, acquisition, and inventory 
information to the Cranberry Marketing Committee (Committee), and to 
maintain adequate records of such activities. The establishment of 
these requirements is authorized under section 8(d) of the Agricultural 
Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 (Act). The Committee, which administers 
marketing order 929, regulating the handling of cranberries grown in 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, 
Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State 
of New York, has been delegated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
to collect such information authorized under Part 926. Based on 
information provided by the Committee, USDA has determined that the 
collection of information under Part 926 is of marginal benefit to the 
industry and should be suspended.

DATES: Effective December 29, 2006; comments received by February 26, 
2007 will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments 
concerning this rule. Comments must be sent to the Docket Clerk, 
Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 
AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 
20250-0237; Fax: (202) 720-8938; E-mail: [email protected], or 
Internet: http://www.regulations.gov. All 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, or can be viewed at: 
http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kenneth G. 
Johnson, DC Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration 
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, Unit 155, 4700 River 
Road, Riverdale, Maryland 20737; Telephone: (301) 734-5243, Fax: (301) 
734-5275, or E-mail at [email protected] or 
[email protected].
    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 pursuant to the 
Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended [7 U.S.C. 601-
674], hereinafter referred to as the ``Act''.
    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. There are no administrative procedures which must be exhausted 
prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.
    This rule suspends indefinitely Part 926 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations, which contains the reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements for entities engaged in the handling or importation of 
fresh cranberries or cranberry products but not subject to the 
cranberry marketing order (7 CFR Part 929) (order). Under Part 926, 
such entities are required to provide to USDA or its delegate, certain 
information regarding the sales, acquisitions, and inventories of fresh 
cranberries or cranberry products. USDA delegated authority to the 
Committee to collect such information. The Committee, which is also 
responsible for administering the order, has used this information to 
analyze market conditions and make volume control recommendations to 
USDA. Recently the Committee has determined that this data collection 
under Part 926 is not needed at this time, and advised USDA of its 
findings following its meeting on June 6, 2006.
    Section 608d(3) of the Act, as amended, authorizes the collection 
of cranberry and cranberry product inventory information from producer-
handlers, second handlers, processors, brokers, and importers that are 
not regulated by the order. Pursuant to this statutory authority, USDA 
issued reporting and recordkeeping requirements for these entities 
under Part 926 on January 12, 2005 (70 FR 1995). Sections 926.16, 
926.17, and 926.18 require these entities to file and maintain certain 
reports and other information that are also required of handlers 
regulated under the order.
    Part 926 was implemented to allow the Committee access to cranberry 
and cranberry product inventory information from throughout the 
industry, including segments outside the scope of the order, so that it 
could make more informed marketing decisions. For example, the 
Committee makes annual volume control recommendations to USDA that are 
based upon estimated cranberry production, acquisition, inventory, and 
sales for the total industry. Adding inventory data collected from 
entities outside the order to the data reported by handlers under the 
order was expected to provide a more accurate estimate of the total 
industry inventory, thus enabling the Committee to make more informed 
volume control recommendations.
    However, after more than a year's experience collecting the data 
pursuant to Part 926, the Committee has found that most inventories are 
maintained by handlers regulated under the order, and that the amount 
of cranberries and cranberry products held by entities outside the 
order is minimal and does not affect the Committee's marketing 
decisions. The Committee met on June 6, 2006, to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the data collection conducted under Part 926. Taking 
into account the marginal benefits of this data collection, the 
committee advised USDA that the reporting and recordkeeping provisions 
under Part 926 should be suspended.
    This action suspends the reporting and recordkeeping requirements 
of Part 926 indefinitely. Should changes occur in the cranberry 
industry that would warrant reimplementation of these requirements USDA 
may take appropriate action to reinstate these provisions under Part 
926.

Initial 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 initial 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. Small agricultural 
service firms are defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) 
[13 CFR 121.201] as those having annual receipts less than $6,500,000. 
Small agricultural producers are defined

[[Page 78046]]

as those with annual receipts of less than $750,000. The Committee 
estimates that there are approximately 56 handlers, producer-handlers, 
processors, brokers, and importers subject to the data collection 
requirements under Part 926. The Committee further estimates that most 
of the entities required to file reports under Part 926 would be 
considered small under the SBA criteria.
    This rule suspends indefinitely the provisions of 7 CFR Part 926, 
which require persons engaged in the handling of cranberries or 
cranberry products (including producer-handlers, second-handlers, 
processors, brokers, and importers) but not subject to the order to 
maintain adequate records and report sales, acquisitions, and inventory 
information to the Committee. Part 926 was established because the 
Committee needed inventory information from non-regulated entities as 
well as those subject to the order to better formulate its marketing 
decisions and recommendations. It is being suspended because the 
Committee has determined that, considering the size of the inventories 
held outside the scope of the order, collecting that data from the non-
regulated entities is of marginal benefit to the industry.
    This action suspends the reporting and recordkeeping requirements 
for these cranberry handlers and importers. It is also expected to 
reduce the Committee's costs associated with the collection and 
maintenance of that information.
    Alternatives to this action included continuing to collect 
information as currently provided in Part 926, raising the inventory 
threshold that triggers the need for a non-regulated entity to report 
its inventory so that only those entities holding the largest 
inventories would be required to file reports, or requesting that non-
regulated entities provide inventory information voluntarily. However, 
the Committee advised USDA that most cranberries and cranberry products 
are currently held in the inventories of the regulated handlers until 
needed by processors, which greatly reduces the likelihood that large 
unreported inventories exist. Therefore, the collection of inventory 
information from entities under Part 926 no longer benefits the 
industry.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
Chapter 35), the information collection requirements related to this 
rule were previously approved by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) and assigned OMB No. 0581-0222, Data Collection Requirements 
Applicable to Cranberries Not Subject to the Cranberry Marketing Order 
(7 CFR Part 926). This information collection package expires August 
31, 2007. We are submitting this information collection for renewal and 
requesting OMB approval of a one-hour burden placeholder for future 
reimplementation should changes occur in the cranberry industry that 
require reinstatement of these reporting and recordkeeping requirements 
under Part 926.
    The AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to 
promote the use of the Internet and other information technologies to 
provide increased opportunities for citizen access to Government 
information and services, and for other purposes.
    In addition, USDA has not identified any relevant Federal rules 
that duplicate, overlap or conflict with this rule.
    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.
    This rule invites comments on suspending the reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements under 7 CFR Part 926. All comments received 
will be considered prior to finalization of this interim final rule.
    After consideration of all relevant material presented, it is found 
that Part 926, suspended in this interim final rule, as hereinafter set 
forth, does not tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is also 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 in 
effect and good cause exists for not postponing the effective date of 
this rule until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register 
because: (1) This interim final rule is a relaxation in the reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements under 7 CFR Part 926 and should be in 
place as soon as possible for the upcoming 2006-07 season and (2) This 
interim final rule provides a 60-day comment period, and all comments 
timely received will be considered prior to finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 926

    Cranberries and cranberry products, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 926 is amended as 
follows:

PART 926--DATA COLLECTION, REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS 
APPLICABLE TO CRANBERRIES NOT SUBJECT TO THE CRANBERRY MARKETING 
ORDER

0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR Part 926 continues to read as 
follows:

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


Sec. Sec.  926.1 through 926.21  [Suspended]

0
2. In part 926, Sec. Sec.  926.1 through 926.21 are suspended 
indefinitely.

    Dated: December 21, 2006.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. E6-22237 Filed 12-27-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P