[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10334-10335]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4592]
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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.
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 37 / Friday, February 24, 1995 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 10334]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 6
Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, USDA.
ACTION: Public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture will hold a public hearing on
March 10, 1995, to permit interested persons to present their views and
comments on changes to the Import Regulation on dairy products subject
to import licensing.
DATES: The hearing will be held on March 10, 1995, at 9:30 a.m.
Interested persons wishing to testify at the hearing must make a
written request to testify to the address indicated below by noon on
March 8, 1995. Following the hearing, persons may submit written
rebuttal statements to the address indicated below by noon March 17,
1995.
ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held in Room 107, Administration
Building, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th and Independence
Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.
Address requests to testify to Richard Warsack, Dairy Import Quota
Manager, Import Policies and Programs Division, Room 5531-S, Foreign
Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th and
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250 1000. Requests to
testify may also to be submitted to Mr. Warsack via FAX, (202) 720-
6556.
All written material received in response to this notice will be
available for public inspection in Room 5531, South Building, 14th and
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00
p.m.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Wanamaker, Group Leader, Import
Programs Group, Import Policies and Programs Division, Room 5531-A,
Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 14th and
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-1000, or telephone (202)
720-2916.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the request to testify, the following
information must be provided: name, address, telephone number, and firm
or affiliation of each witness. Testimony at the hearing will be
limited to 10 minutes. Written rebuttal statements must be in English
and should be strictly limited to demonstrating errors of fact or
analysis not pointed out in the hearing, and should be as concise as
possible.
Certain cheese and non-cheese dairy products may only be imported
into the United States by or for the account of a person or firm to
whom an import license has been issued by the Department of Agriculture
(the Department) and only in accordance with the terms and conditions
of a license issued pursuant to Import Regulation 1, Revision 7 (7 CFR
6.20-6.34) (Import Regulation), and the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (HTS). On June 2, 1994, an Advanced Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) was published in the Federal Register that
the Department was considering revising the Import Regulation to
implement commitments undertaken by the United States under the Uruguay
Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and to make various changes.
The comment period on the ANPR concluded on August 1, 1994. The
Department received 44 submissions which provided a wide range of views
including methods of allocating licenses for imported dairy products
and suggestions on various other changes intended to update and
strengthen the Import Regulation. The Department is scheduling a public
hearing for the presentation of views and comments by interested
persons with respect to the ANPR.
As described in the ANPR, the Import Regulation provided for the
issuance of licenses to importers of certain dairy products which were
subject to import quotas proclaimed by the President pursuant to
section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended (7
U.S.C. 624) (Section 22). The absolute quotas on dairy products
pursuant to Section 22 were converted to tariff-rate quotas under the
HTS on January 1, 1995 under Presidential Proclamation 6763 of December
23, 1994 which implemented trade agreements resulting from the Uruguay
Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. That Proclamation also
allocated the in-quota quantity of dairy products subject to tariff-
rate quotas among supplying countries. The importation of most dairy
products subject to the in-quota tariff rates will be administered by
the Department through a licensing system in accordance with the Import
Regulation. The Department published an Interim Rule in the Federal
Register on January 6, 1995, which amended the Import Regulation to
make import licensing applicable to the quantities of dairy products
subject to in-quota tariff rates as of January 1, 1995 under the HTS
including quantities of dairy products that had been subject to quotas
under Section 22 and new quantities negotiated in the Uruguay Round for
the 1995 quota year. The Interim Rule also established eligibility
standards for non-cheese dairy products to ensure that licenses are
granted to commercial operations importing, exporting, or manufacturing
dairy products, and established a rank-order lottery system for non-
cheese dairy products. Butter substitutes and butteroil were made
subject to licensing in view of the significant increase in the
quantities of these products which may enter at the in-quota tariff
rate. The Interim Rule amended the Import Regulation to implement the
U.S. Uruguay Round commitments, but did not include fundamental changes
in the operation of the administration of the import licensing system
set forth in the Import Regulation as envisaged in the ANPR.
At this time, the Department is considering the broader fundamental
changes to the Import Regulation as envisaged in the ANPR. The
Department will conduct a public hearing to permit interested parties
to orally present their views, suggestions, and concerns on changes to
the provisions of the Import Regulation including modifications,
revisions, and updating with respect to: definitions, eligibility
requirements, transfer of eligibility, allocation of annual in-quota
tariff-rate quantities, issuance of licenses, issuance of ex-quota
permits, sales in-transmit, record and inspection, suspension and
revocation procedures, and amendments to the Import Regulations
implemented in the Interim Rule. Interested persons are encouraged to
present testimony on proposed changes as well as any other
[[Page 10335]] comments that they may feel appropriate.
Signed at Washington, D.C., the 16th day of February, 1995.
R.E. Rominger,
Acting Secretary of Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 95-4592 Filed 2-23-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-10-P
