97-276. Cranberries Grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York; Change in Reporting Requirements  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 915-916]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-276]
    
    
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    DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
    Agricultural Marketing Service
    
    7 CFR Part 929
    
    [Docket No. FV-96-929-2FR]
    
    
    Cranberries Grown in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
    Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, 
    Washington, and Long Island in the State of New York; Change in 
    Reporting Requirements
    
    AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
    
    ACTION: Final rule.
    
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    SUMMARY: This final rule changes the reporting requirements currently 
    prescribed under the cranberry marketing order. The marketing order 
    regulates the handling of cranberries grown in 10 States and is 
    administered locally by the Cranberry Marketing Committee (committee). 
    This rule allows the committee to collect receipt and inventory 
    information from handlers on a different species of cranberries. This 
    rule will provide more accurate information to the cranberry industry 
    to be used in making marketing decisions.
    EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule becomes effective February 6, 1997.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Petrella or Kathleen M. 
    Finn, Marketing Specialists, Marketing Order Administration Branch, 
    F&V, AMS, USDA, room 2530-S, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456: 
    telephone: (202) 720-1509, Fax #(202) 720-5698. Small businesses may 
    request information on compliance with this regulation by contacting: 
    Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 
    Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, DC 20090-
    6456; telephone (202) 720-2491; Fax #(202) 720-5698.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule is issued under Marketing 
    Order No. 929 (7 CFR part 929), as amended, regulating the handling of 
    cranberries grown in 10 States, hereinafter referred to as the 
    ``order.'' The order is effective under the Agricultural Marketing 
    Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter 
    referred to as the ``Act.''
        The Department of Agriculture (Department) is issuing this rule in 
    conformance with Executive Order 12866.
        This final rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 
    Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive 
    effect. This final rule will not preempt any State or local laws, 
    regulations, or policies, unless they present an irreconcilable 
    conflict with this rule.
        The Act provides that administrative proceedings must be exhausted 
    before parties may file suit in court. Under section 608c(15)(A) of the 
    Act, any handler subject to an order may file with the Secretary a 
    petition stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any 
    obligation imposed in connection with the order is not in accordance 
    with law and request a modification of the order or to be exempted 
    therefrom. A handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the 
    petition. After the hearing the Secretary would rule on the petition. 
    The Act provides that the district court of the United States in any 
    district in which the handler is an inhabitant, or has his or her 
    principal place of business, has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's 
    ruling on the petition, provided an action is filed not later than 20 
    days after date of the entry of the ruling.
        Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory 
    Flexibility Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has 
    considered the economic impact of this final rule on small entities.
        The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of 
    business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will 
    not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued 
    pursuant to the Act, and rules issued thereunder, are unique in that 
    they are brought about through group action of essentially small 
    entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small 
    entity orientation and compatibility.
        There are approximately 25 handlers of cranberries who are subject 
    to regulation under the marketing order and approximately 1,400 
    producers of cranberries in the regulated area. Small agricultural 
    service firms, which includes handlers, have been defined by the Small 
    Business Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual 
    receipts of less than $5,000,000, and small agricultural producers are 
    defined as those having annual receipts of less than $500,000. The 
    majority of handlers and producers of cranberries may be classified as 
    small entities.
        Handlers are already required to complete a form four times a year 
    reporting all regulated cranberries on hand for a specified period, all 
    cranberries acquired and sold, and the new balance of cranberries on 
    hand. This rule authorizes adding data to this form requiring 
    information on a new variety of cranberries not regulated under the 
    order. The form has an estimated burden time of two hours. No 
    additional burden time will be added to this form to acquire this 
    information. In addition, because the industry relies on the 
    comprehensive information provided by the committee, it is critical 
    that the committee obtain accurate information. This information will 
    be used in making marketing decisions and the additional burden on 
    handlers, if any, will not be significant.
        Therefore, the AMS has determined that this action will not have a 
    significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
        This final rule changes the reporting requirements currently 
    prescribed under the cranberry marketing order. This rule allows the 
    committee to collect receipt and inventory information from handlers on 
    a different species of cranberries. This rule will provide more 
    accurate information to the cranberry industry to be used in making 
    marketing decisions. The committee unanimously recommended the above 
    change.
        The request for this information will be incorporated on the 
    handler inventory report, a form already used by the committee. The 
    request of this information should not constitute a significant burden 
    on a business unit, large or small. Currently, the estimated reporting 
    burden per response for the handler inventory report is two hours. The 
    burden time will not change with the additional data request.
        Section 929.62(e) of the cranberry marketing order provides 
    authority to require handlers to furnish to the committee information 
    with respect to acquisitions and dispositions of cranberries. This 
    section also provides authority to require handlers to file reports to 
    the committee as to the quantity of cranberries handled by such handler 
    during any designated period.
    
    [[Page 916]]
    
        Under the marketing order, cranberries are defined as all varieties 
    of the fruit Vaccinium macrocarpon grown in the production area. In 
    1995, the cranberry industry experienced a short crop coupled with 
    increased demand. To replace the shortage of Vaccinium macrocarpon, 
    handlers have supplemented their inventories with Vaccinium oxycoccus 
    which is a European species of cranberry, recognized by the Food and 
    Drug Administration as a cranberry. Because of the increase in volume 
    of this species of cranberry, it is important to the cranberry industry 
    to know the amount of Vaccinium oxycoccus that is being acquired and 
    utilized by handlers.
        The order authorizes the committee to recommend limiting the 
    quantities of cranberries which may be handled during any fiscal 
    period. The Secretary would establish a volume regulation based on 
    information received from the committee if the Secretary found that 
    such regulation would effectuate the declared policy of the Act. The 
    committee is considered by the industry as the source for comprehensive 
    cranberry related data, primarily data relating to production, 
    supplies, utilization and inventories. Therefore, it is critical to the 
    committee to receive comprehensive information on cranberries.
        The committee will be able to use this information on Vaccinium 
    oxycoccus when considering its decisions to implement volume regulation 
    within the industry. Since this species is not regulated under the 
    order, the committee needs to know the quantities and which handlers 
    have acquired Vaccinium oxycoccus in order to keep the data on the non-
    regulated species separate and apart from the data on the regulated 
    species, Vaccinium macrocarpon.
        Therefore, the committee recommended that section 929.105 be 
    revised by adding a new subparagraph (c) that requires that handlers 
    also report on the same form as currently filed with the committee, the 
    total quantity of Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries the handler acquired 
    and the disposition of such cranberries. Also, the handler are required 
    to report the respective quantities of Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries 
    and cranberry products held by the handler.
        The committee and its staff are responsible for keeping information 
    on individual handlers' inventories and receipt confidential. 
    Information gathered by the committee, including information relating 
    to supplies of this non-regulated species of cranberries, will only be 
    reported in the aggregate, along with other pertinent cranberry data.
        The proposed rule concerning this action was published in the 
    August 21, 1996, Federal Register (61 FR 43186), with a 30-day comment 
    period ending September 20, 1996. No comments were received. The 
    proposed rule also announced AMS's intention to request a revision to 
    the currently approved information collection requirements issued under 
    the marketing order. The information collection requirements contained 
    in the referenced sections have been approved by the Office of 
    Management and Budget (OMB) under the provisions of 44 U.S.C. Chapter 
    35 and have been assigned OMB number 0581-0103.
        After consideration of all relevant matter presented, including the 
    information and recommendations submitted by the committee and other 
    available information, it is hereby found that this rule, as 
    hereinafter set forth, will tend to effectuate the declared policy of 
    the Act.
    
    List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 929
    
        Cranberries, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping 
    requirements.
    
        For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 929 is 
    amended as follows:
        1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 929 continues to read as 
    follows:
    
        Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.
    
    PART 929--CRANBERRIES GROWN IN THE STATES OF MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE 
    ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEW JERSEY, WISCONSIN, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, 
    OREGON, WASHINGTON, AND LONG ISLAND IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
    
    
    Sec. 929.105  [Amended]
    
        2. In Sec. 929.105, paragraphs (b) (1) and (2) are amended by 
    adding the words ``and Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberries'' after the word 
    ``cranberries'' everywhere they appear and paragraph (b)(2) is amended 
    by adding the words ``and Vaccinium oxycoccus cranberry products'' 
    after the words ``cranberry products''.
    
        Dated: December 31, 1996.
    Robert C. Keeney,
    Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.
    [FR Doc. 97-276 Filed 1-6- 97; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
2/6/1997
Published:
01/07/1997
Department:
Agricultural Marketing Service
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Final rule.
Document Number:
97-276
Dates:
This final rule becomes effective February 6, 1997.
Pages:
915-916 (2 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Docket No. FV-96-929-2FR
PDF File:
97-276.pdf
CFR: (1)
7 CFR 929.105