[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 16, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14022-14024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05859]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 1260

[No. AMS-LPS-15-0084]


Amendment to the Beef Promotion and Research Rules and 
Regulations

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would amend the Beef Promotion and Research 
Order (Order) established under the

[[Page 14023]]

Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 (Act) to increase assessment 
levels for imported veal and veal products based on revised 
determinations of live animal equivalencies and to update and expand 
the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) numbers and categories, which 
identify imported veal and veal products to conform with recent updates 
in the numbers and categories used by the U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (Customs).

DATES: Comments must be received by May 16, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be posted online at www.regulations.gov. 
Comments received will be posted without change, including any personal 
information provided. All comments should reference the docket number, 
AMS-LPS-15-0084; the date of submission; and the page number of this 
issue of the Federal Register. Comments may also be sent to Mike 
Dinkel, Promotion and Research Division, Livestock, Poultry, and Seed 
Program, Agricultural Marketing Service, Department of Agriculture, 
Room 2610-S, STOP 0251, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20250-0251; or via Fax to (202) 720-1125. Comments will be made 
available for public inspection at the above address during regular 
business hours or via the Internet at www.regulations.gov. Comments 
must be received by May 16, 2016.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Dinkel, Agricultural Marketing 
Specialist; Research and Promotion Division, Room 2610-S; Livestock, 
Poultry and Seed Program; Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA; STOP 
0251; 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-0251; 
facsimile (202) 720-1125; telephone (301) 352-7497, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has waived the review 
process required by Executive Order 12866 for this action.

Executive Order 12988

    This proposed rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have a retroactive 
effect.
    Section 11 of the Act provides that nothing in the Act may be 
construed to preempt or supersede any other program relating to beef 
promotion organized and operated under the laws of the U.S. or any 
State. There are no administrative proceedings that must be exhausted 
prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of this rule.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), the Acting Administrator of AMS has 
considered the economic effect of this action on small entities and has 
determined that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small business entities. The effect 
of the Beef Order upon small entities was discussed in the July 18, 
1986, Federal Register [51 FR 26132]. The purpose of RFA is to fit 
regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to such actions 
in order that small businesses will not be unduly burdened.
    There are approximately 270 importers who import beef or edible 
beef products into the U.S. and 198 importers who import live cattle 
into the U.S. The majority of these operations subject to the Beef 
Order are considered small businesses under the criteria established by 
the Small Business Administration (SBA)[13 CFR 121.201]. SBA defines 
small agricultural service firms as those having annual receipts of 
$7.5 million or less.
    The proposed rule will impose no significant burden on the 
industry. It will merely update and expand the HTS numbers and 
categories for veal and veal products to conform to recent updates in 
the numbers and categories used by Customs. This proposed rule will 
adjust the live animal equivalencies used to determine the amount of 
assessments collected on imported veal and veal products. This 
adjustment reflects an increase in the assessment of imported veal 
product so that it coincides with the assessment on domestic veal 
product. Accordingly, the Acting Administrator of AMS has determined 
that this action will not have a significant impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
regulations [5 CFR part 1320] that implement the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 [44 U.S.C. Chapter 35], the information collection and 
recordkeeping requirements contained in the Beef Order and Rules and 
Regulations have previously been approved by OMB under OMB control 
number 0581-0093.

Background

    The Act authorized the establishment of a national beef promotion 
and research program. The final Beef Order was published in the Federal 
Register on July 18, 1986, (51 FR 21632), and the collection of 
assessments began on October 1, 1986. The program is administered by 
the Cattlemen's Beef Promotion and Research Board (Board), appointed by 
the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) from industry nominations, and 
composed of 100 cattle producers and importers. The program is funded 
by a $1-per-head assessment on producer marketing of cattle in the U.S. 
and on imported cattle as well as an equivalent amount on imported beef 
and beef products.
    Importers pay assessments on imported cattle, beef, and beef 
products. Customs collects and remits the assessment to the Board. The 
term ``importer'' is defined as ``any person who imports cattle, beef, 
or beef products from outside the United States.'' Imported beef or 
beef products is defined as ``products which are imported into the 
United States which the Secretary determines contain a substantial 
amount of beef including those products which have been assigned one or 
more of the following numbers in the Tariff Schedule of the United 
States.''
    The purpose of this proposed rule is to update, expand, and revise 
the table found under Sec.  1260.172 (7 CFR 1260.172) to reflect the 
current HTS numbers and assessments on veal and veal products.
    As a result of these changes to HTS, there are 6 new categories 
that cover imported veal and veal products subject to assessment. The 
30 categories identifying imported beef and beef products have been 
expanded to 66 categories.
    This proposed rule updates and expands the chart published in the 
2006 final rule to conform with recent changes to the HTS numbering 
system and revises the live weight equivalents used to calculate import 
veal assessments. Importers are currently paying a lower assessment 
level for imported veal and veal products than what is being paid for 
domestic veal and veal products. At that time, the average dressed 
weight of veal slaughtered under Federal inspection was determined to 
be 154 pounds. USDA determined that using the average dressed weight of 
domestic veal slaughtered under Federal inspection would be most 
suitable because most of the imported veal and veal products were 
similar to domestic veal.
    The Act requires that assessments on imported beef and beef 
products be determined by converting such imports into live animal 
equivalents to ascertain

[[Page 14024]]

the corresponding number of head of cattle. Carcass weight is the 
principle factor in calculating live animal equivalents.
    Prior to publishing the proposed rule, USDA received information 
from the Board regarding imported veal assessments on April 7, 2015. 
The Board requested to expand the number of HTS codes for imported veal 
and veal products in order to capture product that is not currently 
being assessed and to update the live animal equivalency rate on 
imported veal to reflect the same assessment as domestic veal and veal 
products. The Board also suggested that AMS update the dressed veal 
weight to better reflect current dressed veal weights. The Board 
recommends using an average dressed veal weight from 2010 to the most 
current data. The Board states that ``establishing an average over this 
period of time takes into account short term highs and lows due to the 
cattle cycle, weather effects, and feed prices.'' This average would be 
154 pounds.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1260

    Administrative practice and procedure, Advertising, Agricultural 
research, Marketing agreements, Meat and meat products, Beef, and Beef 
products.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 7 of the CFR part 
1260 is proposed to be amended as follows:

PART 1260--BEEF PROMOTION AND RESEARCH

0
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1260 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  7 U.S.C. 2901-2911 and 7 U.S.C. 7401.

0
2. Amend Sec.  1260.172 by revising paragraph (b)(2) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  1260.172  Assessments.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (2) The assessment rates for imported cattle, beef, and beef 
products are as follows:

                          Imported Live Cattle
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  HTS No.                          Assessment rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0102.10.0010..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.10.0020..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.10.0030..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.10.0050..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.2011..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.2012..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4024..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4028..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4034..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4038..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4054..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4058..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4062..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4064..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4066..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4068..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4072..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4074..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4082..............................  $1.00/head.
0102.90.4084..............................  $1.00/head.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                     Imported Beef and Beef Products
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Assessment
                         HTS No.                            rate per kg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0201.10.0510............................................       .01693600
0201.10.0590............................................       .00379102
0201.10.1010............................................       .01693600
0201.10.1090............................................       .00379102
0201.10.5010............................................       .01693600
0201.10.5090............................................       .00511787
0201.20.0200............................................       .00530743
0201.20.0400............................................       .00511787
0201.20.0600............................................       .00379102
0201.20.1000............................................       .00530743
0201.20.3000............................................       .00511787
0201.20.5000............................................       .00379102
0201.20.8090............................................       .00379102
0201.30.0200............................................       .00530743
0201.30.0400............................................       .00511787
0201.30.0600............................................       .00379102
0201.30.1000............................................       .00530743
0201.30.3000............................................       .00511787
0201.30.5000............................................       .00511787
0201.30.8090............................................       .00511787
0202.10.0510............................................       .01693600
0202.10.0590............................................       .00379102
0202.10.1010............................................       .01693600
0202.10.1090............................................       .00370102
0202.10.5010............................................       .01693600
0202.10.5090............................................       .00379102
0202.20.0200............................................       .00530743
0202.20.0400............................................       .00511787
0202.20.0600............................................       .00379102
0202.20.1000............................................       .00530743
0202.20.3000............................................       .00511787
0202.20.5000............................................       .00379102
0202.20.8000............................................       .00379102
0202.30.0200............................................       .00530743
0202.30.0400............................................       .00511787
0202.30.0600............................................       .00527837
0202.30.1000............................................       .00530743
0202.30.3000............................................       .00511787
0202.30.5000............................................       .00511787
0202.30.8000............................................       .00379102
0206.10.0000............................................       .00379102
0206.21.0000............................................       .00379102
0206.22.0000............................................       .00379102
0206.29.0000............................................       .00379102
0210.20.0000............................................       .00615701
1601.00.4010............................................       .00473877
1601.00.4090............................................       .00473877
1601.00.6020............................................       .00473877
1602.50.0900............................................       .00663428
1602.50.1020............................................       .00663428
1602.50.1040............................................       .00663428
1602.50.2020............................................       .00701388
1602.50.2040............................................       .00701388
1602.50.6000............................................       .00720293
------------------------------------------------------------------------


               NEW Imported (Veal) Beef and Beef Products
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Assessment
                         HTS No.                            rate per kg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0201.20.5010............................................       .01693600
0201.20.5020............................................       .01693600
0201.30.5010............................................       .01693600
0201.30.5020............................................       .01693600
0202.30.5010............................................       .01693600
0202.30.5020............................................       .01693600
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *

    Dated: March 10, 2016.
Elanor Starmer,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2016-05859 Filed 3-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-02-P