[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19168-19169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-7242]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration


United States Standards for Beans

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: We plan to revise the U.S. standards for Beans to provide 
applicants for service with an optional grade designation for bean 
certification; and remove the requirements that the percentage of high 
moisture and, in the case of Mixed beans, the percentage of each class 
in the mixture be shown on the grade line.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by May 17, 2007.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. You may 
submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: Send comments via electronic mail to 
[email protected].
     Mail: Send hardcopy written comments to Tess Butler, 
GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1647-S, Washington, DC 
20250-3604.
     Fax: Send comments by facsimile transmission to: (202) 
690-2755.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver comments to: Tess 
Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1647-S, 
Washington, DC 20250-3604.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Instructions: All comments should refer to the date and 
page number of this issue of the Federal Register.
     Read Comments: All comments will be available for public 
inspection in the above office during regular business hours (7 CFR 
1.27(b)).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beverly A. Whalen at USDA, GIPSA, 
FGIS, FMD, Suite 180, STOP 1404, 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City, 
Missouri 64133; Telephone (816) 823-4648; Fax Number (816) 823-4644; e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, as amended (AMA), directs 
and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and improve 
standards for agricultural products (7 U.S.C. 1622). These are 
standards of quality, condition, quantity, grade, and packaging. The 
intent of such standards is to encourage uniformity and consistency in 
commercial practices.
    We establish and maintain a variety of quality and grade standards 
for agricultural commodities. These standards serve as the fundamental 
starting point to define commodity quality in the domestic and global 
marketplace. We provide official procedures for how inspectors 
determine the various grading factors in supporting handbooks, such as 
the Bean Handbook. The AMA standards and supporting procedures are 
voluntary and widely used in private contracts, government procurement, 
marketing communication, and, for some commodities, consumer 
information.
    Standards developed under the AMA include rice, whole dry peas, 
split peas, feed peas, lentils, and beans. The U.S. standards for Whole 
Dry Peas, Split Peas, Feed Peas, Lentils, and Beans do not appear in 
the Code of Federal Regulations (although the process by which we 
develop these standards is specified through the regulations in 7 CFR 
868.102, Procedures for establishing and revising grade standards); 
however, the standards are available on the GIPSA Web site at http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/GIPSA/webapp?area=home&subject=grpi&topic=sq-ous and 
by contacting the Field Management Division (FMD) at the above address. 
We provide the official procedures for how inspectors determine the 
various grading factors in various supporting handbooks, such as the 
Bean Handbook, which you may view and print from the GIPSA Web site at 
http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/GIPSA/webapp?area=home&subject=lr&topic=hb-bi.

Optional Grade Designation and Certification Procedures

    We work closely with the National Dry Bean Council (NDBC) and 
others in the bean industry to examine the effectiveness of the U.S. 
standards for Beans in today's marketing environment. It appears that 
the current standards continue to meet consumer/processor needs; 
however, both the rice and grain industries have optional certification 
procedures. We have determined that these certification procedures 
could be beneficial to the bean industry, as well.
    Currently, inspectors certify beans offered for inspection as a 
specific quality (U.S. grade) for example, U.S. No. 2 Pinto Beans. 
Certifying a specific grade is commonly referred to in the rice and 
grain industries as ``Option 1'' grade designation. This works well 
most of the time, however, there are exceptions. At times, sellers find 
when preparing to load beans for shipment that the supply of a 
particular grade of bean may be insufficient to meet the quality and 
quantity requirements specified in the sales contract. When this 
happens, the seller may find it necessary to ship beans of a better 
quality. However, current inspection procedures do not allow the 
flexibility to describe or certify superior quality beans as being of a 
lower quality. If the lot presented for inspection is not uniform in 
quality for the declared grade, the inspector certifies each portion 
separately according to quality. That is, if a consignment consists of 
both U.S. No. 1 and 2 Pinto beans, current procedure requires that the 
quantity representing each of the different qualities receive separate 
certification. Such certification may not meet the terms of sale for 
the contract.
    The U.S. standards for rice and grains offer an alternative 
approach that is termed ``Option 2'' grade designation. When a contract 
specifies an Option 2 grade designation, the applicant may specifically 
request Option 2 certification. Under Option 2 certification, there is 
no limitation placed on the amount of better quality grain in the lot. 
When a lot meets or is of better quality than the declared grade, 
inspectors include the term ``or better'' immediately following the 
numerical or sample grade designation.
    We would like to offer the Option 2 grade designation and 
certification approach for beans. Under such an approach, beans that 
are a better quality than that specified by the contract would be 
certified as a specific grade ``or better'' (for example, U.S. No. 2, 
or better, Pinto Beans). The applicant for inspection can obtain the 
optional certification procedure by requesting it on the application 
for inspection. The applicant would file the request for the optional 
certification prior to the beginning of inspection so the inspector 
knows how to certify the lot. We believe that Option 2 grade 
designation and certification will better align the bean industry with 
the rice and grain industries, provide sellers with the flexibility to 
ship beans of better quality, and provide buyers with the desirable 
option of receiving better quality.

High Moisture and Mixed Beans

    We also plan to remove the requirements that the percentage of high 
moisture and, in the case of Mixed beans, the percentage of each class 
in the mixture be shown on the grade-line. The special grade 
designation ``High moisture'' is applicable to all classes of

[[Page 19169]]

beans containing over 18.0 percent moisture. While we will continue to 
show the special grade designation High moisture'' on the grade line, 
we intend to eliminate the requirement that the percentage of moisture 
be shown on the grade line. Rather, we plan to enter the percentage of 
moisture, if applicable, in the ``Results'' section of the certificate. 
Additionally, for the class of Mixed beans, we currently require 
inspectors to include the breakdown of the different classes, in order 
of predominance, on the grade line of the certificate. Instead of 
showing this information on the grade line, we plan to enter such 
information in the ``Results'' section of the certificate. This 
approach will not change the grade of the product. We intend for these 
changes to improve the readability of the certificate. The grade line 
will provide the grade designation, which includes special grade 
designations, when applicable, and other related information will be 
provided in the Remarks section of the certificate. Further, this 
change in the U.S. standards for Beans will better align certification 
requirements in beans with other graded commodities such as rice.

Comments

    We are requesting comments for 30 days. All comments received 
within the comment period will be made part of the public record we 
maintain, will be available to the public for review, and will be 
considered before we take final action.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627.

James E. Link,
Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
[FR Doc. E7-7242 Filed 4-16-07; 8:45 am]
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