[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 46 (Thursday, March 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13874-13875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05044]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 46 / Thursday, March 11, 2021 / 
Notices  

[[Page 13874]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[Doc. No. AMS-SC-20-0096, SC-20-327]


Revision of U.S. Standards for Grades of Watermelons

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) proposes to revise the U.S. Standards for Grades of 
Watermelons. The proposed changes would provide a common language for 
trade of watermelons.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 10, 2021.

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 date and page 
numbers 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David G. Horner, at the address above, 
by phone (540) 361-1128; fax (540) 361-1199; or email 
[email protected]. Copies of the proposed U.S. Standards for 
Watermelons are available at http://www.regulations.gov. Copies of the 
current U.S. Standards for Grades of Watermelons are available on the 
AMS website at www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/fruits.

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.''
    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

    On October 22, 2019, the National Watermelon Association (NWA), a 
trade association representing growers, retailers, and shippers, from 
30 U.S. states, Canada, and Central America, petitioned the USDA to 
revise the watermelon standards and update the official USDA visual 
aids library. AMS worked closely with the NWA throughout the 
development of the proposed revisions, soliciting their comments and 
suggestions about the standards through discussion drafts and 
presentations. Through this collaboration, AMS also developed and 
issued four new watermelon visual aids. On November 20, 2020, the NWA 
approved the proposed revisions which are as follows:
     Sec.  51.1973 Tolerances: For defects at shipping point, 
en route, or at destination for the U.S. No. 1 and U.S. No. 2 grades, 
the standards currently provide separate tolerances for Anthracnose and 
decay. Anthracnose lesions on watermelon result in loss of 
marketability. Due to the severity of this defect, industry requested 
the tolerance section be revised to reduce the amount of Anthracnose 
permitted in each grade. The proposed revisions will remove the 3% 
tolerance for Anthracnose at shipping point and remove the 5% tolerance 
for Anthracnose en route or at destination. The tolerance for decay 
would be revised to establish a total tolerance of 1% and 2% 
respectively for shipping point and en route or at destination for 
Anthracnose and decay.
     Sec.  51.1976 Size: The current standard shows average 
weights of watermelons ranging from 20 to 42 pounds. Smaller 
watermelons are much more common in the marketplace than was once the 
case, so AMS is proposing to align weights with current marketing 
trends by adjusting the average weights to 10 to 34 pounds.
     Sec.  51.1985 Permanent defects and Sec.  51.1986 
Condition defects: The current standard lists sunburn as a condition 
defect, primarily based on the past practice of shipping watermelons in 
open top trailers. Today, watermelons are generally shipped in enclosed 
trailers. Melons generally only have sunburn due to exposure in the 
field. Therefore, AMS proposes to remove sunburn as a condition defect 
and add sunburn as a permanent defect.
     Sec.  51.1978 and Sec.  51.1982: In Sec.  51.1978, AMS 
proposes to correct the typo in the definition for fairly well formed 
to read ``the perfect type for the variety'' instead of ``the perfect 
type of the variety.'' In Sec.  51.1982, AMS proposes to add the 
missing heading identifying the definition: ``Seedless watermelons.''
     Sec.  51.1987 Classification of defects: AMS proposes to 
base the scoring guides for sunburn, hail, rind worm injury, scars (and 
other similar defects), and transit rubs on a 15-pound melon instead of 
a 25-pound melon, again reflecting that smaller melons are prevalent in 
today's markets. The most common size melon sold in the market is 15 
pounds, followed by 11 and 18 pounds. In addition, at industry's 
request, AMS proposes to base the scoring guide for hollow heart on any 
size melon instead of 25 pounds. Lastly, also at industry's request, 
AMS proposes to limit the scoring of rind worm injury on the ground 
spot. Consumers tend not to purchase a watermelon based only on the 
ground spot or any rind worm injury that might be on it. Therefore, AMS 
proposes that rind worm injury occurring on the ground spot is only 
scorable under the definition of damage when seriously detracting from 
the appearance of the melon; rind worm injury occurring on

[[Page 13875]]

the ground spot is not scorable as serious damage.
     AMS proposes to remove all metric measurements from the 
standards. The U.S. watermelon industry does not use metrics and finds 
them a distraction in the standards.
    The proposed revisions will ensure the standards align with current 
marketing trends.
    A 60-day period is provided for interested persons to submit 
comments on the proposed grade standards. Copies of the proposed 
revised U.S. Standards for Grades of Watermelons are available at 
http://www.regulations.gov. After the 60-day comment period, AMS will 
proceed in accordance with 7 CFR 36.3(a)(1-3).

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

Bruce Summers,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2021-05044 Filed 3-10-21; 8:45 am]
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