[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 156 (Monday, August 13, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39917-39918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17283]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
 
 ========================================================================
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 156 / Monday, August 13, 2018 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 39917]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 52

[Document Number AMS-FV-14-0088, SC-18-328]


United States Standards for Grades of Processed Vegetables

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise the U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Pickles, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green 
Olives. AMS is proposing to replace the term ``midget'' with ``petite'' 
in the canned lima bean, canned mushroom, and pickle standards, and to 
remove ``midget'' completely from the green olive standards as there is 
an alternative term. AMS is also proposing to replace the two-term 
grading system (dual nomenclature) with a single term to describe each 
quality level in the canned lima bean, canned mushroom, and green olive 
standards. Editorial changes would also be made to the grade standards 
that conform to recent changes made in other grade standards.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 12, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to 
the USDA, Specialty Crops Inspection Division, 100 Riverside Parkway, 
Suite 101, Fredericksburg, VA 22406; fax: (540) 361-1199; or at 
www.regulations.gov. Comments should reference the dates and page 
number of this issue of the Federal Register. Comments will be posted 
without change, including any personal information provided. All 
comments received within the comment period will become part of the 
public record maintained by the Agency and will be made available to 
the public via www.regulations.gov. Comments will be made available for 
public inspection at the above address during regular business hours or 
can be viewed at: www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lindsay H. Mitchell at the address 
above, by phone (540) 361-1120; fax (540) 361-1199; or, email 
[email protected]. Copies of the proposed U.S. Standards 
for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned 
Mushrooms, U.S. Standards for Grades of Pickles, and U.S. Standards for 
Grades of Green Olives are available at http://www.regulations.gov. 
Copies of the current U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, 
U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, U.S. Standards for 
Grades of Pickles, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives are 
available on the Specialty Crops Inspection Division website at 
www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/vegetables.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing 
Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621-1627) as amended, directs and authorizes the 
Secretary of Agriculture ``to develop and improve standards of quality, 
condition, quantity, grade, and packaging, and recommend and 
demonstrate such standards in order to encourage uniformity and 
consistency in commercial practices.''
    The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is committed to carrying 
out this authority in a manner that facilitates the marketing of 
agricultural commodities and makes copies of official standards 
available upon request. The U.S. Standards for Grades of Fruits and 
Vegetables that no longer appear in the Code of Federal Regulations are 
maintained by AMS at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards. AMS is 
proposing revisions to these U.S. Standards for Grades using the 
procedures that appear in part 36 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (7 CFR part 36).

Background

    AMS continually reviews all fruit and vegetable grade standards to 
ensure their usefulness to the industry, modernize language, and remove 
duplicative terminology. On May 13, 2013, AMS received a petition from 
the Little People of America stating they ``are trying to raise 
awareness around and eliminate the use of the word midget.'' The 
petition further stated, ``Though the use of the word midget by the 
USDA when classifying certain food products is benign, Little People of 
America, and the dwarfism community, hopes that the USDA would consider 
phasing out the term midget.''
    AMS determined that six grade standards contained the term 
``midget''--U.S. Standards for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Canned Mushrooms, U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Pickles, U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives, U.S. Standards for 
Grades of Processed Raisins, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Shelled 
Pecans. The shelled pecans and processed raisins were separated out and 
are covered in two rules due to additional changes being made.
    Before developing these proposed revisions, AMS solicited comments 
and suggestions about the grade standards from the Grocery 
Manufacturers Association, U.S. Dry Bean Council, American Mushroom 
Institute, Pickle Packers International, Inc., and the California Olive 
Committee. The consensus from the U.S. Dry Bean Council, American 
Mushroom Institute, and Pickle Packers International, Inc. was to 
proceed with replacing ``midget'' with ``petite'' in each of the three 
standards. The California Olive Committee stated there would be no 
issue with removing the term ``midget'' completely from the standards 
as that would leave ``petite'' for the size designation.
    In addition to replacing ``midget'' with ``petite'' or removing 
``midget,'' AMS is also proposing to remove dual nomenclature in U.S. 
Standards for Grades of Canned Lima Beans, U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Canned Mushrooms, and U.S. Standards for Grades of Green Olives. More 
recently developed standards use a single term, such as ``U.S. Grade 
A'' or ``U.S. Grade B,'' to describe each level of quality within a 
grade standard. Older grade standards used dual nomenclature, such as 
``U.S. Grade A or U.S. Fancy,'' ``U.S. Grade B or U.S. Extra 
Standard,'' or ``U.S. Grade B or U.S. Choice,'' and ``U.S. Grade C or 
U.S. Standard,'' to describe the same level of quality. The terms 
``U.S. Fancy,'' ``U.S. Extra

[[Page 39918]]

Standard'' or ``U.S. Choice,'' and ``U.S. Standard'' would be removed 
and the terms ``U.S. Grade A,'' ``U.S. Grade B,'' and ``U.S. Grade C'' 
would be used exclusively.
    Finally, AMS is proposing editorial changes to these grade 
standards, i.e., updating the name of a table to better reflect 
content, removing specific address for viewing or obtaining color 
standards, updating a grade designation in a scoresheet to align with 
language used throughout standard, and updating the Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) references where applicable. Information on obtaining 
color standards is available in the Fresh and Processed Equipment 
Catalog on the AMS website at https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/how-purchase-equipment-and-visual-aids. These revisions will 
provide a format that is consistent with those of other grade standards 
(75 FR 43141). The following table summarizes the changes currently 
under consideration by AMS.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        Remove or replace
    U.S. standards for grades of      Effective date        ``midget''             Other proposed revisions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canned Lima Beans...................         3/20/60  Replace with           Change level of quality
                                                       ``Petite'' in Table    designations to single terms in
                                                       II in Sizes of         the Grades of canned lima beans
                                                       canned lima beans      and Color sections.
                                                       section.              Correct CFR citation for standard
                                                                              of identity to 21 CFR 155.200 in
                                                                              the Identity section.
                                                                             Replace Processed Products
                                                                              information and address with
                                                                              ``USDA Headquarters in Washington,
                                                                              DC'' in the General section.
Canned Mushrooms....................          4/7/62  Replace with           Change level of quality
                                                       ``petite'' in the      designations to single terms in
                                                       Sizes of canned        the Grades of canned mushrooms
                                                       mushrooms in the       section.
                                                       styles of whole and   Correct CFR citation for standard
                                                       buttons section.       of identity to 21 CFR 155.200 in
                                                                              the Product description section.
Green Olives........................          9/8/67  Remove from Table I    Change level of quality
                                                       in the Sizes of        designations to single terms in
                                                       whole style green      the Grades of green olives and
                                                       olives section.        Uniformity of size sections and
                                                                              Tables IV and V in the Absence of
                                                                              defects section.
                                                                             Change ``D'' to ``Sstd'' in the
                                                                              Score sheet for green olives
                                                                              section.
Pickles.............................         4/22/91  Replace with           Change the title of Table III from
                                                       ``Petite'' in Table    ``Recommended Pickle Ingredients
                                                       II in the Sizes of     All Styles Except Relish'' to
                                                       whole pickles          ``Recommended Minimum Quantity of
                                                       section and Table VI   Pickle Ingredients All Styles
                                                       in the Requirements    Except Relish.''
                                                       for grade section.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The proposed revisions to these grade standards would provide a 
common language for trade and better reflect the current marketing of 
fruits and vegetables.
    A 60-day comment period is provided for interested persons to 
submit comments on the proposed revised grade standards. Copies of the 
proposed revised standards are available at http://www.regulations.gov. 
After the 60-day comment period, AMS will move forward in accordance 
with 7 CFR 36.3(a)(1 through 3).

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

    Dated: August 8, 2018.
Bruce Summers,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-17283 Filed 8-10-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-02-P