96-7443. Kiwifruit Grown in California; Continuance Referendum

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 27, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 13463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-7443]



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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. 61, No. 60 / Wednesday, March 27, 1996 / 
Proposed Rules

[[Page 13463]]


DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 920

[Docket No. FV96-920-1]


Kiwifruit Grown in California; Continuance Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Referendum order.

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SUMMARY: This document directs that a referendum be conducted among 
eligible growers of California kiwifruit to determine whether they 
favor continuance of the marketing order regulating the handling of 
kiwifruit grown in the production area.

DATES: The referendum will be conducted from June 3 through June 21, 
1996. To vote in this referendum, growers must have been producing 
California kiwifruit during the period August 1, 1995, through May 31, 
1996.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the text of the aforesaid marketing order may be 
obtained from the office of the referendum agent at 2202 Monterey 
Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721, or the Office of the 
Docket Clerk, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box 96456, room 2525-S, Washington, 
DC 20090-6456.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Aguayo, California Marketing 
Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, Agriculture Marketing Service, USDA, 2202 Monterey 
Street, Suite 102B, Fresno, California 93721; telephone [phone]; 
or Charles L. Rush, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit and 
Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, room 2536-S, 
P.O. Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456; telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Marketing Order No. 920 (7 CFR 
Part 920), hereinafter referred to as the ``order'' and the applicable 
provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act,'' it 
is hereby directed that a referendum be conducted to ascertain whether 
continuance of the order is favored by growers. The referendum shall be 
conducted during the period June 3 through June 21, 1996, among 
California kiwifruit growers in the production area. Only growers who 
were engaged in the production of California kiwifruit during the 
period of August 1, 1995, through May 31, 1996, may participate in the 
continuance referendum.
    The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) has determined that 
continuance referenda are an effective means for ascertaining whether 
growers favor continuation of marketing order programs. The Secretary 
would consider termination of the order if less than two-thirds of the 
growers voting in the referendum and growers of less than two-thirds of 
the volume of California kiwifruit represented in the referendum favor 
continuance. In evaluating the merits of continuance versus 
termination, the Secretary will not only consider the results of the 
continuance referendum. The Secretary will also consider all other 
relevant information concerning the operation of the order and the 
relative benefits and disadvantages to growers, handlers, and consumers 
in order to determine whether continued operation of the order would 
tend to effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
    In any event, section 8c(16)(B) of the Act requires the Secretary 
to terminate an order whenever the Secretary finds that a majority of 
all growers affected by the order favor termination, and such majority 
produced for market more than 50 percent of the commodity covered under 
such order.
    In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 
104-13), the ballot materials to be used in the referendum herein 
ordered have been submitted to and approved by the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) and have been assigned OMB No. 0581-0149 for 
California kiwifruit. It has been estimated that it will take an 
average of 20 minutes for each of the approximately 500 growers of 
California kiwifruit to cast a ballot. Participation is voluntary. 
Ballots postmarked after June 21, 1996 will not be included in the vote 
tabulation.
    Rose M. Aguayo and Kurt J. Kimmel of the California Marketing Field 
Office, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, 
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), are hereby designated 
as the referendum agents of the Secretary to conduct such referendum. 
The procedure applicable to the referendum shall be the ``Procedure for 
the Conduct of Referenda in Connection With Marketing Orders for Fruit, 
Vegetables, and Nuts Pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Agreement 
Act of 1937, as Amended'' (7 CFR Part 900.400 et seq.).
    Ballots will be mailed to all growers of record and may also be 
obtained from the referendum agents and from their appointees.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 920

    Kiwifruit, Marketing agreements.

    Authority: 7 U.S.C. 601-674.

    Dated: March 20, 1996.
Michael V. Dunn,
Assistant Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-7443 Filed 3-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P