[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 22 (Friday, February 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6111-6112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1819]


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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 of reopening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: We published a notice in the Federal Register on April 17, 
2007 (72 FR 19169), inviting comments regarding the revision of the 
U.S. Standards for Beans. The proposed revisions would provide 
applicants for service with an optional grade designation for bean 
certification; and remove the requirements that the percentage of high 
moisture and, for Mixed beans, the percentage of each class in the 
mixture, be shown on the grade line. The notice provided an opportunity 
for interested parties to forward written comments to the Grain 
Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) until May 17, 
2007. Due to the continued high level of interest in this

[[Page 6112]]

notice, we are reopening the comment period to provide interested 
parties with additional time to comment.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by April 1, 2008.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit your comments on the 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 1633-S, Washington, DC 
20250-3604.
     Fax: Send comments by facsimile transmission to: (202) 
690-2173.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver comments to: Tess 
Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 1643-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 make reference 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, Market and Program Analysis Staff, 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: GIPSA published a notice in the Federal 
Register on April 17, 2007 (72 FR 19169), inviting comments from all 
interested persons on the proposed revisions to the U.S. Standards for 
Beans. The proposed revisions would provide applicants for service with 
an optional grade designation for bean certification and remove the 
requirements that the percentage of high moisture, and, for Mixed 
beans, the percentage of each class in the mixture, be shown on the 
grade line. For ease of reference, we have included in this notice a 
discussion of the revisions to the U.S. Standards for Beans that are 
under consideration.

Optional Grade Designation and Certification Procedures

    Currently, inspectors certify beans offered for inspection as a 
specific quality (U.S. grade), such as U.S. No. 2 Pinto Beans. 
Certifying a specific grade is commonly referred to 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.
    An alternative approach 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 would be no limitation placed on the amount of 
better quality beans in the lot. When a lot meets or is of better 
quality than the declared grade, inspectors would 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, 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. 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). We believe that Option 2 grade designation and 
certification will provide sellers with the flexibility to ship beans 
of better quality, and provide buyers with the desirable option of 
receiving better quality.

High Moisture Beans

    The special grade designation ``High moisture'' is applicable to 
all classes of beans containing over 18.0 percent moisture and is 
required to be shown on the grade line of the certificate. We will 
continue to show the special grade designation ``High moisture'' on the 
grade line, when applicable, but propose to list the moisture 
percentage in the ``Results'' section of the certificate. This approach 
is intended to enhance the readability of the certificate.

Mixed Dry Beans

    We also propose to eliminate the requirement that certain grade 
related information be shown on the grade line of the certificate for 
the class of Mixed beans. Currently, the U.S. Standards for Beans 
require a breakdown of the different classes, in order of predominance, 
be shown on the grade line of the certificate, in addition to the 
regular grade designation information, when the beans are classed as 
Mixed beans. Instead of showing this information on the grade line, we 
propose to enter such information in the ``Results'' section of the 
certificate. This approach will not change the grade of the product and 
will enhance the readability of the certificate.

Comments

    The comment period of 30 days from the date of publication (72 FR 
19169) closed on May 17, 2007. Due to continued high level of interest 
in the April 17, 2007 notice, GIPSA is reopening the comment period to 
provide interested parties additional time to comment. As a result, the 
comment period is reopened for a 60 day period. We welcome both 
comments from interested persons who did not comment during the initial 
30 day period, as well as those interested persons who have already 
commented.

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

David R. Shipman,
Acting Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards 
Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-1819 Filed 1-31-08; 8:45 am]
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