[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 10, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11581-11585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6060]
========================================================================
Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains regulatory documents
having general applicability and legal effect, most of which are keyed
to and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which is published
under 50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.
The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by the Superintendent of Documents.
Prices of new books are listed in the first FEDERAL REGISTER issue of each
week.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 46 / Tuesday, March 10, 1998 / Rules
and Regulations
[[Page 11581]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Farm Service Agency
7 CFR Part 723
RIN 0560-AE96
Amendment to the Tobacco Marketing Quota Regulations
AGENCY: Farm Service Agency, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This rule adopts as final, with minor technical changes, the
proposed rule published in the Federal Register on March 21, 1997 (62
FR 13546). The rule amends the tobacco marketing quota regulations to:
Provide for making quota ``inequity adjustments'' on a ``common
ownership unit'' basis rather than strictly on a ``farm'' basis;
eliminate unduly restrictive deadlines for the mailing of certain quota
notices; permit, for burley and flue-cured tobacco, disaster transfers
to be made by cash lessees, from cash rented farms, without the owner's
signature; provide greater flexibility in the setting of penalty
amounts for burley and flue-cured tobacco producer violations;
eliminate a provision that requires yearly publication in the Federal
Register of routine penalty computations; remove regulations governing
the 1994-calendar year only ``domestic marketing assessment'', which
was applicable to the use by certain cigarette manufacturers of set
percentages of domestic tobacco; codify certain routine statutory
provisions concerning, and penalties related to, setting burley and
flue-cured tobacco national marketing quotas; and add several technical
changes, including changes to reflect a recent reorganization of the
Department of Agriculture.
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 10, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Lewis, Jr., Agricultural Program
Specialist, Tobacco and Peanuts Division, Farm Service Agency, United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 1400 Independence Avenue, SW,
STOP 0514, Washington, DC 20250-0514, telephone 202-720-0795.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Executive Order 12866
This rule has been determined to be not significant and therefore
was not reviewed by OMB under Executive Order 12866.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act is not applicable to this final rule
since the Farm Service Agency (FSA) is not required by 5 U.S.C. 553 or
any other provision of law to publish a notice of proposed rule making
with respect to the subject matter of this rule.
Federal Assistance Program
The title and number of the Federal Assistance Program, as found in
the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, to which this rule applies
are: Commodity Loans and Purchases--10.0514.
Environmental Evaluation
It has been determined by an environment evaluation that this
action will have no significant impact on the quality of the human
environment. Therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an
environmental impact statement is needed.
Executive Order 12372
This activity is not subject to the provisions of Executive Order
12372, which requires intergovernmental consultation with State and
local officials. See the notice related to 7 CFR part 3015, subpart V,
published at 48 FR 29115 (June 24, 1983).
Executive Order 12988
This final rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive
Order 12988. The provisions of this final rule are not retroactive and
preempt State laws to the extent that such laws are inconsistent with
the provisions of this rule. Before any legal action is brought
regarding determinations made under provisions of 7 CFR part 723, the
administrative appeal provisions set forth at 7 CFR part 780 and 7 CFR
part 711, as applicable, must be exhausted.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This final rule does not contain new or revised information
collection requirements that require approval by OMB under the
Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3507 et seq). The information
collections required in 7 CFR part 723 have previously been cleared
under OMB control number 0560-0058.
Discussion of Comments
Thirty comments were received from the public in response to the
proposed rule which was published in the Federal Register at 62 FR
13546 (March 21, 1997). Twenty-eight were from tobacco producers, one
from a State farm organization and one from a college student. Only one
comment was unfavorable and it expressed concern about the health
issues of tobacco which are beyond the scope of this proceeding.
Accordingly, the rule has been amended with technical changes for
clarity and those corrections include new cross references in 723.309
and in 723.410 to 723.409 as amended in the rule. The latter specifies
that where more than one party is responsible for the mis-marketing of
tobacco, all parties are ultimately jointly liable for the remittance
of the penalty amount to the government if the party who is normally
assigned the duty of making the payment fails to make the payment.
Also, to avoid any controversy and make clear that the rule is all-
encompassing, certain references have been changed to specify that any
party, regardless of how they would normally classify themselves, that
aids in the mis-marketing of suspicious tobacco can be liable for
remitting the penalty amount to FSA. This is not an expansion of the
rule as any such aid would permit such a person to be considered a
``dealer'' in tobacco within the meaning of the rule.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 723
Acreage allotments, Dealers, Domestic cigarette manufactures,
Marketing quotas, Penalties, Tobacco.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR part 723 is
amended as follows:
PART 723--TOBACCO
1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 723 continues to read as
follows:
[[Page 11582]]
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1301, 1311-1314, 1314-1, 1314b, 1314b-1,
1314b-2, 1314c, 1314d, 1314e, 1314f, 1314i, 1315, 1316, 1362, 1363,
1372-75, 1377-1379, 1421, 1445-1 and 1445-2.
2. Section 723.104 is amended by adding definitions for ``common
ownership unit'', ``Farm Service Agency'', and ``FSA'' in their proper
alphabetical order to read as follows:
Sec. 723.104 Definitions.
* * * * *
Common ownership unit. A common ownership unit is a distinguishable
part of a farm, consisting of one or more tracts of land with the same
owners, as determined by FSA.
* * * * *
Farm Service Agency. An agency within the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
* * * * *
FSA. The Farm Service Agency.
* * * * *
3. Section 723.210 is amended by adding a new paragraph (d) to read
as follows:
Sec. 723.210 Corrections of errors and adjusting inequities in acreage
allotments and marketing quotas for old farms.
* * * * *
(d) Making certain adjustments on a common ownership unit basis.
Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, inequity adjustments
may be allotted by common ownership unit rather than by farm when it is
determined by the county FSA committee that the making of the
allocation on that basis provides greater equity.
Sec. 723.213 [Amended]
4. Section 723.213 is amended by removing paragraph (c) and
redesignating paragraph (d) as paragraph (c).
5. Section 723.216 is amended by revising paragraphs (a)
introductory text, (a)(2)(ii)(A) and (a)(2)(iii)(A) to read as follows:
Sec. 723.216 Transfers of tobacco acreage allotment or marketing quota
by sale, lease, or owner.
(a) General. The allotment or quota established for a farm may be
transferred to another farm to the extent provided for in this section.
For transfers by sale, common ownership units on a farm may be
considered to be separate farms. Transfers are not permitted for cigar
binder (types 54 and 55) tobacco allotments.
(1) * * *
(2) * * *
(ii) * * *
(A) Leases. The owner and operator of the transferring farm and the
owner or operator of the receiving farm. For leases made under the
disaster provisions of this section, the signature of the owner of the
transferring farm will not be required if the FSA determines that the
farm is cash leased for the current crop year and that the owner does
not share in the crop.
(B) * * *
(iii) * * *
(A) Leases. The owner of the transferring farm and the owner or
operator of the receiving farm. For leases made under the disaster
provisions of this section, the signature of the owner of the
transferring farm will not be required if the FSA determines that the
farm is cash leased for the current crop year and that the owner does
not share in the crop.
* * * * *
723.308 [Amended]
6. Section 723.308 is amended by adding ``and announced annually''
after ``determined'' in the first sentence and removing the second
sentence.
Sec. 723.309 [Amended]
7. The introductory text in Sec. 723.309 is amended by adding the
words ``Subject to any additional requirements or provisions for
remittances which are contained in Sec. 723.409 of this part'', before
the words ``The persons to pay.''
8. Section 723.409 is amended by revising the heading, paragraphs
(a), (b), (e)(1), (e)(2) introductory text, and (f) and by removing
paragraph (g), to read as follows:
Sec. 723.409 Producer violations, penalties, false identification
collections and remittances by dealers, buyers, handlers, warehouses,
and other parties; related issues.
(a) Generally--(1) Circumstances in which penalties are due. A
penalty shall be due on all marketings from a farm which are:
(i) In excess of the applicable quota or allotment;
(ii) Made without a valid marketing card;
(iii) Made under circumstances where a buyer or dealer, or their
agents, know, or have reason to know, that the tobacco was, or is,
marketed in a manner which by itself or in combination with other
marketings is designed to, or has the effect of, defeating the purposes
of the tobacco price support and production adjustment program,
avoiding marketing quota limitations, or otherwise avoiding provisions
of this part or part 1464 of this title;
(iv) Falsely identified; or,
(v) Marketings for which the producer or other party fails to make
a proper account as required by the provisions of this part.
(2) Amount of the penalty. The amount of the penalty shall be the
amount computed by multiplying the penalty rate by the penalty
quantity.
(3) Penalty rate. The penalty rate for purposes of this section is
that rate which is computed as the penalty rate per pound for the
applicable kind of tobacco under Sec. 723.308, except to the extent
that a converted penalty rate may be used as provided for in this
section.
(4) Penalty quantity. The penalty quantity for purposes of this
section is the quantity of tobacco that is determined by the county FSA
committee subject to the Director's review to be subject to penalty,
provided further that:
(i) For burley and flue-cured tobacco, the penalty quantity for
purposes of this section shall be the amount of marketings from the
farm in excess of 103 percent of the farm's effective marketing quota
for that year, except that if the violation involves false
identification or a failure to account for tobacco, the FSA may, in its
discretion, depending on the nature of the violations, use as the
penalty quantity an amount up to 25 percent of the farm's effective
marketing quota plus 100 percent of the farm yield on any excess
acreage for the farm (acreage planted in excess of the allotted acres,
as estimated or determined).
(ii) For tobacco other than burley and flue-cured tobacco, the
penalty quantity shall be the amount of marketings from the farm in
excess of the farm's marketing quota provided further, that in order to
aid in the collection of the penalty the FSA may endeavor, to the
extent practicable, to apply the penalty to all of the farm's marketing
by converting the full penalty rate to a converted proportionate
penalty rate which rate may be identified on the producer's marketing
card and collected and remitted accordingly. In making the calculation
of the converted penalty rate, the agency shall take into account any
carryover tobacco applicable for the farm. If an erroneous penalty rate
is shown on the marketing card, then the
[[Page 11583]]
producer of the tobacco and the producer who marketed the tobacco shall
be liable for any balance due.
(5) Limitations on reduced penalty quantities. No penalty shall be
assessed at less than the maximum amount unless it is determined by the
county FSA committee, with the concurrence of the State FSA committee,
that all of the following exist with respect to such violation:
(i) The violation was inadvertent and unintentional;
(ii) All of the farm's production has been accounted for and there
are no excess marketings for which there are penalties outstanding;
(iii) The records for all involved farms have been corrected to
show the marketings involved; and
(iv) The false identification or failure to account did not give
the producer an advantage under the program.
(6) Effect of improper, invalid, deceptive or unaccounted for
marketings on penalty quantity calculation. Any marketing made without
a valid marketing card, falsely identified, or unaccounted for in
accordance with the requirements of this part, or made under
circumstances which are designed to, or have the effect of, defeating
the purpose of the tobacco marketing quota and price support program,
avoiding any limitation on marketings, avoiding a penalty, or avoiding
compliance with, or the requirements of, any regulation under this part
or under part 1464 of this title, shall be considered an excess
marketing of tobacco. Further, such marketings shall, unless shown to
the satisfaction of the county FSA committee to be otherwise, be
considered, where relevant, to be in excess of 103 percent of the
applicable marketing quota for the farm, and shall be subject to a
penalty at the full penalty rate for each pound so marketed.
(7) Pledging of tobacco by an ineligible producer. In addition to
any other circumstances in which a penalty may be assessed under this
part, the marketing or pledging for a price support loan of any tobacco
when the producer is not considered to be an ``eligible producer''
under the provisions of part 1464 of this title, shall be considered to
be a false identification of tobacco and shall be dealt with
accordingly. This remedy shall be in addition to all others as may
apply.
(8) Failures to make certain reports. If any producer who
manufactures tobacco products from tobacco produced by such person or
another fails to make the report required by Sec. 723.408(f) or
otherwise required by this part, or makes a false report, such producer
shall be deemed to have failed to account for the disposition of
tobacco produced on the farm(s) involved. The filing of a report by a
producer under Sec. 723.408 of this part which the State FSA committee
finds to be incomplete or incorrect shall constitute a failure to
account for the disposition of tobacco produced on the farm.
(b) Special provisions for tobacco buyers, dealers, handlers,
warehouse operators and others who acquire, handle, or facilitate the
marketing of tobacco. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a)
of this section and other provisions of this part:
(1) Unless such amount has been remitted by another in accord with
the provisions of this part, a dealer, buyer, warehouse operator or
other person handling tobacco shall collect, and remit to FSA, an
amount equal to the full penalty rate provided for in Sec. 723.208
times the quantity of tobacco involved where the tobacco is not
identified with a valid producer or dealer card, the tobacco is sold
under suspicious circumstances, or when there is reason to suspect that
the tobacco may be subject to a penalty for any reason or may be
marketed in derogation of the goals and purposes of the tobacco support
program. For purposes of the preceding sentence ``handling'' shall
include any services provided with respect to the tobacco, and any
facilitation of the marketing of tobacco regardless of the level or
amount of contact, if any, that the party may actually have with the
tobacco.
(2) The amount of the penalty required to be collected may be
deducted from the proceeds due a seller and all parties chargeable
under paragraph (b)(1) of this section shall be jointly and severally
liable for insuring that the monies are remitted to FSA except to the
extent that the Director shall allow for an exemption to facilitate the
marketing of tobacco, or for some other reason.
(3) The collection and remittance of penalty shall be in addition
to any other obligations that such person may have to collect other
amounts, including other penalties or assessments due on such
marketings.
(4) If a penalty is collected and remitted by a buyer, dealer, or
warehouse operator that is shown not to be due or only partially due,
then the overpayment shall be refunded to the appropriate party. It is
the responsibility of the person that collected the penalty and the
person that sold the tobacco involved to show to the satisfaction of
the FSA that such penalty is not due in the full amount collected.
(c) * * *
(e) * * *
(1) For amounts of $100 or less, the county FSA committee, and
(2) For amounts over $100, the county FSA committee with approval
of the State FSA committee determines that each of the following
conditions is applicable:
(i) * * *
(f) Refusal to contribute required assessments. A marketing penalty
at the full rate per pound is due on each pound of tobacco marketed
from a farm when the farm operator or producers refuse to pay no-net-
cost or marketing assessments as provided in part 1464 of this title.
In all such cases, the farm from which the tobacco has been produced
shall be considered to have a marketing quota of zero pounds and an
allotment of zero acres.
9. In Sec. 723.410 the introductory text is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 723.410 Penalties considered to be due from warehouse operators,
dealers, buyers, and others excluding the producer.
Subject to any additional requirements or provisions for
remittances which are contained in Sec. 723.409 of this part, any
marketing of tobacco under one of the following conditions shall be
considered to be a marketing of excess tobacco.
* * * * *
10. Part 723 subpart E is revised to read as follows:
Subpart E--Establishing Burley and Flue-Cured Tobacco National
Marketing Quotas
Sec.
723.501 Scope.
723.502 Definitions.
723.503 Establishing the quotas.
723.504 anufacturer's intentions; penalties.
Sec. 723.501 Scope.
This subpart sets out regulations for setting annual national
marketing quotas for burley and flue-cured tobacco based on the
purchase intentions of certain manufacturers of cigarettes and on other
factors. It also sets out penalty provisions for manufacturers who fail
to purchase, within the tolerances set in this part, the amount of
domestic tobacco, by kind, reflected in the stated intention as
accounted for in accordance with this subpart.
Sec. 723.502 Definitions.
In addition to the definitions set forth at Sec. 723.104, the
definitions set forth in this section shall be applicable for purposes
of administering the provisions of this subpart.
CCC. The Commodity Credit Corporation, an instrumentality of the
USDA.
[[Page 11584]]
Domestic manufacturer. A domestic manufacturer of cigarettes.
Domestic manufacturer of cigarettes. A manufacturer, who as
determined by the Director, produces and sells more than 1 percent of
the cigarettes produced and sold in the United States annually.
Price support inventory. The inventory of tobacco which, with
respect to a particular kind of tobacco, has been pledged as collateral
for a price support loan made by CCC through a producer-owned
cooperative marketing association.
Producer owned cooperative marketing associations. Those
associations or their successors, which by law act as agents for
producers for price support loans for tobacco, and which were, as of
January 1, 1996, for burley and flue-cured tobacco, the Burley Tobacco
Growers Cooperative Association, the Burley Stabilization Corporation,
and the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation.
Unmanufactured tobacco. Stemmed and unstemmed leaf tobacco, stems,
trimmings, and scrap tobacco.
Sec. 723.503 Establishing the quotas.
(a) General. Subject to the 3-percent adjustment provided for in
paragraph (b) of this section, the annual marketing quotas for burley
and flue-cured tobacco shall be calculated for each marketing year for
each kind separately as follows:
(1) Domestic manufacturer purchase intentions. First, for each kind
and year, the Director shall calculate the aggregate relevant purchaser
intentions as declared or set under this section.
(2) Exports. Next, the Director shall add to the total determined
under paragraph (a)(1) of this section the amount which is equal to the
Director's determination of the average quantity of exported domestic
leaf tobacco of the applicable kind for the past 3 marketing years. For
this purpose, exports include unmanufactured tobacco only, including,
but not limited to, stemmed and unstemmed leaf tobacco, stems,
trimmings, and scrap tobacco, and excludes tobacco contained in
manufactured products including, but not limited to, cigarettes,
cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff and semi-processed bulk
smoking tobacco. The quantity of exports for the most recent year, as
needed, may be estimated.
(3) Reserve stock level adjustment. The Director may then adjust
the total calculated by adding the sums of paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2)
of this section, by making such adjustment which the Director, in his
discretion, determines necessary to maintain inventory levels held by
producer loan associations for burley and flue-cured tobacco at the
reserve stock level. For burley tobacco, the reserve stock level for
these purposes is the larger of 50 million pounds farm sales weight or
15 percent of the previous year's national marketing quota. For flue-
cured tobacco, the reserve stock level for these purposes is the larger
of 100 million pounds farm sales weight or 15 percent of the previous
year's national marketing quota. Any adjustment under this clause shall
be discretionary taking into account supply conditions; however, for
burley tobacco no downward adjustment under this clause may exceed the
larger of 35 million pounds (farm sales weight) or 50 percent of the
amount by which loan inventories exceed the reserve stock level.
(b) Additional 3-percent adjustment. The amount otherwise
calculated under paragraph (a) of this section may be adjusted by the
Director by 3 percent of the total. This adjustment is discretionary
and may be made irrespective of whether any adjustment has been made
under paragraph (a)(3) of this section and may be made to the extent
the Director deems such an adjustment is in the best interest of the
program.
(c) Dates of announcement. For flue-cured tobacco, the quota
determination should be announced by December 15 preceding the
marketing year. For burley, the announcement should be made by February
1 preceding the marketing year.
Sec. 723.504 Manufacturers' intentions; penalties.
(a) Generally. Each domestic manufacturer shall, for each marketing
year, for burley and flue-cured tobacco separately, submit a statement
of its intended purchases of eligible tobacco by the date prescribed in
paragraph (d) of this section; further, at the end of the marketing
year, each such manufacturer shall submit a statement of its actual
countable purchases of eligible tobacco for that marketing year, by
kind, for burley and flue-cured tobacco. For these purposes, countable
purchases of eligible tobacco shall be as defined in, and determined
under, paragraph (b) of this section. If a domestic manufacturer fails
to file a statement of intentions, the Director shall declare the
amount which will be considered that manufacturer's intentions for the
marketing year. That declaration by the Director shall be based on the
domestic manufacturer's previous reports, or such other information as
is deemed appropriate by the Director in the Director's discretion.
Notice of the amount so declared shall be forwarded to the domestic
manufacturer. If the domestic manufacturer fails to file a year-end
report or files an inaccurate or incomplete report, then the Director
may deem that the manufacturer has no purchases to report or take such
other action as the Director believes is appropriate to fulfill the
goals of this section. Intentions and purchases of countable tobacco
will be compared for purposes of determining whether a penalty is due
from the domestic manufacturer.
(b) Eligible tobacco for statements of intentions and countable
purchases toward those intentions. For reports and determinations under
this section, eligible tobacco for purposes of determining the
countable purchases under paragraph (a) of this section will be
unmanufactured domestic tobacco of the relevant kind for use to
manufacture, for domestic or foreign consumption, cigarettes, semi-
processed bulk smoking tobacco and other tobacco products. Eligible
tobacco for these purposes does not include tobacco purchased for
export as leaf tobacco, stems, trimmings, or scrap. Countable purchases
of eligible tobacco shall include purchases of eligible tobacco made by
domestic manufacturers directly from the producers, from a regular
auction market, or from the price support loan inventory, and shall
also include purchases by the manufacturer where the manufacturer
purchases or acquires the tobacco from dealers or buyers who purchased
the tobacco for the domestic manufacturer during the relevant marketing
year directly from a producer, at a regular auction market, or from the
price support loan inventory.
(c) Weight basis and nature of reports. The weight basis used for
all reports and comparisons shall be a farm sales weight basis unless
the Director permits otherwise and all reports will be considered to
have been made on that basis unless the report clearly states
otherwise. Submitted reports shall be assumed to cover countable
purchases of eligible tobacco only, absent indications to the contrary.
(d) Due dates and addresses for reports. For flue-cured tobacco,
the domestic manufacturer's statement of intentions shall be submitted
by December 1 before the marketing year and the year-end report shall
be submitted by August 20 following the end of the marketing year.
Those respective dates for burley tobacco shall be January 15 before
the burley tobacco marketing year and November 20 after the burley
tobacco marketing year.
[[Page 11585]]
Reports shall be mailed or delivered to the Director, Tobacco and
Peanuts Division, STOP 0514, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,
DC 20250-0514.
(e) Penalties. A domestic manufacturer shall be liable for a
penalty equal to twice the purchaser's no-net-cost assessment rate per
pound for the applicable kind of tobacco for the relevant marketing
year, if the manufacturer's purchases of either burley or flue-cured
tobacco for the marketing year do not equal or exceed, as determined by
the Director, 90 percent of their stated purchase intentions for that
kind of tobacco for the relevant marketing year. The Director shall
adjust the domestic manufacturer's intentions, however, to the extent,
that producers have not produced the full amount of the national quota
for the relevant marketing year for the particular kind of tobacco. The
burden of establishing all purchases shall be with the domestic
manufacturer and the Director may, in the case of indirect purchases
for the manufacturer, require that the manufacturer obtain verification
of the purchases by the dealer who made the purchase from the producer,
at a regular auction market, or from the price support loan inventory,
in order to assure that the tobacco is, to the manufacturer, a
countable purchase. The Director may require such additional
information as determined needed to enforce this subpart.
(f) Penalty notice and penalty remittance. Penalties will be
assessed after notice and an opportunity for hearing before the
Director. Remittances are to be made to the CCC and will be credited to
the applicable producer loan association's no-net-cost fund or account
as provided for in part 1464 of this title.
(g) Maintenance and examination of records. Each domestic
manufacturer shall keep all relevant records of purchases, by kind, of
burley and flue-cured tobacco for a period of at least 3 years. The
Director, Office of Inspector General, or other duly authorized
representative of the United States may examine such records, receipts,
computer files, or other information held by a domestic manufacturer
that may be used to verify or audit such manufacturer's reports. The
reasonable cost of such examination or audit may be charged to the
domestic manufacturer who is the subject of the examination or audit.
All records examined or received under this part by officials of the
Department of Agriculture shall be kept confidential to the extent
required by law.
Secs. 723.101 through 723.504 [Amended]
11. Sections 723.101 through 723.504 are amended by removing
``ASC'' wherever it appears and adding ``FSA'' in its place.
Signed at Washington, DC, on March 3, 1998.
Keith Kelly,
Administrator, Farm Service Agency.
[FR Doc. 98-6060 Filed 3-9-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P