97-14382. 1997 Marketing Quota and Price Support for Burley Tobacco  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 3, 1997)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 30229-30230]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-14382]
    
    
    
    ========================================================================
    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. 62, No. 106 / Tuesday, June 3, 1997 / Rules 
    and Regulations
    
    [[Page 30229]]
    
    
    =======================================================================
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
    
    Farm Service Agency
    
    7 CFR Part 723
    
    Commodity Credit Corporation
    
    7 CFR Part 1464
    
    RIN 0560-AF02
    
    
    1997 Marketing Quota and Price Support for Burley Tobacco
    
    AGENCIES: Farm Service Agency and Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA.
    
    ACTION: Final rule.
    
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    SUMMARY: The purpose of this final rule is to codify determinations 
    made by the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) with respect to the 
    1997 crop of burley tobacco. The Secretary determined the 1997 
    marketing quota for burley tobacco to be 704.5 million pounds, and the 
    1997 price support level to be 176.0 cents per pound.
    
    EFFECTIVE DATE: February 1, 1997.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Tarczy, STOP 0514, 1400 
    Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-0514, Phone 202 720-5346.
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    Executive Order 12866
    
        This final rule has been determined to be significant for purposes 
    of Executive Order 12866 and has been reviewed by OMB under Executive 
    Order 12866.
    
    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--10.051.
    
    Executive Order 12988
    
        This final rule has been reviewed in accordance with Executive 
    Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. The provisions of this rule do not 
    preempt State laws, are not retroactive, and do not involve 
    administrative appeals.
    
    Regulatory Flexibility Act
    
        It has been determined that the Regulatory Flexibility Act is not 
    applicable to this final rule because 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 rulemaking with respect to the subject matter of 
    this rule.
    
    Paperwork Reduction Act
    
        The amendments to 7 CFR parts 723 and 1464 set forth in this final 
    rule do not contain any information collection requirements that 
    require clearance through the Office of Management and Budget under the 
    provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
    
    Unfunded Federal Mandates
    
        This rule contains no Federal mandates under the regulatory 
    provisions of Title II of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 
    (UMRA), for State, local, and tribal governments or the private sector. 
    Thus, this rule is not subject to the requirements of sections 202 and 
    205 of the UMRA.
    
    Background
    
        This rule is issued pursuant to the provisions of the Agricultural 
    Adjustment Act of 1938 (the 1938 Act) and the Agricultural Act of 1949 
    (the 1949 Act). Section 1108(c) of Pub. L. 99-272 provides that the 
    determinations made in this rule are not subject to the provisions for 
    public participation in rulemaking contained in 5 U.S.C. 553 or in any 
    directive of the Secretary.
        On February 1, 1997, the Secretary announced the national marketing 
    quota and the price support level for the 1997 crop of burley tobacco. 
    A number of related determinations were made at the same time, which 
    this final rule also affirms.
    
    Marketing Quota
    
        Section 319(c)(3) of the 1938 Act provides, in part, that the 
    national marketing quota for a marketing year for burley tobacco is the 
    quantity of such tobacco that is not more than 103 percent nor less 
    than 97 percent of the total of:
        (1) The amount of burley tobacco that domestic manufacturers of 
    cigarettes estimate they intend to purchase on U.S. auction markets or 
    from producers, (2) the average quantity exported annually from the 
    U.S. during the 3 marketing years immediately preceding the marketing 
    year for which the determination is being made, and (3) the quantity, 
    if any, that the Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, determines 
    necessary to adjust loan stocks to the reserve stock level.
        The reserve stock level is defined in section 301(b)(14)(D) of the 
    1938 Act as the greater of 50 million pounds or 15 percent of the 
    national marketing quota for burley tobacco for the marketing year 
    immediately preceding the marketing year for which the level is being 
    determined.
        Section 320A of the 1938 Act provides that all domestic 
    manufacturers of cigarettes with more than 1 percent of U.S. cigarette 
    production and sales shall submit to the Secretary a statement of 
    purchase intentions for the 1997 crop of burley tobacco by January 15, 
    1997. Five such manufacturers were required to submit such a statement 
    for the 1997 crop and the total of their intended purchases for the 
    1997 crop is 473.5 million pounds. The 3-year average of exports is 
    163.0 million pounds.
        The national marketing quota for the 1996 crop year was 633.8 
    million pounds (61 FR 50423). Thus, in accordance with section 
    301(b)(14)(D) of the 1938 Act, the reserve stock level for use in 
    determining the 1997 marketing quota for burley tobacco is 95.1 million 
    pounds.
        As of January 24, 1997, the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative 
    Association and Burley Stabilization Corporation had in their 
    inventories 27.1 million pounds of burley tobacco (excluding pre-1994 
    stocks committed to be purchased by manufacturers and covered by 
    deferred sales). Accordingly, the adjustment necessary to maintain loan 
    stocks at the reserve supply level is an increase of 68.0 million 
    pounds.
        The total of the three marketing quota components for the 1997-98 
    marketing year is 704.5 million pounds. USDA did not use its 
    discretionary authority to increase or decrease the three-component 
    total by up to 3 percent
    
    [[Page 30230]]
    
    because the Secretary determined that the 1997/98 supply would be ample 
    and appropriate at the formula level. Accordingly, the national 
    marketing quota for the marketing year beginning October 1, 1997, for 
    burley tobacco is 704.5 million pounds.
        In accordance with section 319(c) of the 1938 Act, the Secretary is 
    authorized to establish a national reserve from the national quota in 
    an amount equivalent to not more than 1 percent of the national quota 
    for the purpose of making corrections in farm quotas to adjust for 
    inequities and establish quotas for new farms. The Secretary has 
    determined that a national reserve for the 1997 crop of burley tobacco 
    of 3,798,400 pounds is adequate for these purposes.
    
    Price Support
    
        Price support is required to be made available for each crop of a 
    kind of tobacco for which quotas are in effect, or for which marketing 
    quotas have not been disapproved by producers, at a level determined in 
    accordance with a formula prescribed in section 106 of the 1949 Act.
        With respect to the 1997 crop of burley tobacco, the level of 
    support is determined in accordance with sections 106 (d) and (f) of 
    the 1949 Act. Section 106(f)(7)(A) of the 1949 Act provides that the 
    level of support for the 1997 crop of burley tobacco shall be:
        (1) The level, in cents per pound, at which the 1996 crop of burley 
    tobacco was supported, plus or minus, respectively,
        (2) An adjustment of not less than 65 percent nor more than 100 
    percent of the total, as determined by the Secretary after taking into 
    consideration the supply of the kind of tobacco involved in relation to 
    demand, of:
        (A) 66.7 percent of the amount by which:
        (I) The average price received by producers for burley tobacco on 
    the United States auction markets, as determined by the Secretary, 
    during the 5 marketing years immediately preceding the marketing year 
    for which the determination is being made, excluding the year in which 
    the average price was the highest and the year in which the average 
    price was the lowest in such period, is greater or less than:
        (II) The average price received by producers for burley tobacco on 
    the United States auction markets, as determined by the Secretary, 
    during the 5 marketing years immediately preceding the marketing year 
    prior to the marketing year for which the determination is being made, 
    excluding the year in which the average price was the highest and the 
    year in which the average price was the lowest in such period; and
        (B) 33.3 percent of the change, expressed as a cost per pound of 
    tobacco, in the index of prices paid by the tobacco producers from 
    January 1 to December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the 
    year in which the determination is made.
        The difference between the two 5-year averages (i.e., the 
    difference between (A) (I) and (II)) is 1.3 cents per pound. The 
    difference in the cost index from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996, 
    is 8.0 cents per pound. Applying these components to the price support 
    formula (1.3 cents per pound, two-thirds weight; 8.0 cents per pound, 
    one-third weight) results in a weighted total of 3.5 cents per pound. 
    As indicated, section 106 of the 1949 Act provides that the Secretary 
    may, on the basis of supply and demand conditions, limit the change in 
    the price support level to no less than 65 percent of that amount. In 
    order to remain competitive in foreign and domestic markets, the 
    Secretary used his discretion to limit the increase to 65 percent of 
    the maximum allowable increase. Accordingly, the 1997 crop of burley 
    tobacco will be supported at 176.0 cents per pound, 2.3 cents higher 
    than in 1996.
    
    List of Subjects
    
    7 CFR Part 723
    
        Acreage allotments, Marketing quotas, Penalties, Reporting and 
    recordkeeping requirements, Tobacco.
    
    7 CFR Part 1464
    
        Loan programs-agriculture, Price support programs, Tobacco, 
    Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Warehouses.
        Accordingly, 7 CFR parts 723 and 1464 are amended as follows:
    
    PART 723--TOBACCO
    
        1. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 723 continues to read as 
    follows:
    
        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, 1421, 1445-1, and 1445-2.
    
        2. Section 723.112 is amended by adding paragraph (e) to read as 
    follows:
    
    
    Sec. 723.112  Burley (type 31) tobacco.
    
    * * * * *
        (e) The 1997-crop national marketing quota is 704.5 million pounds.
    
    PART 1464--TOBACCO
    
        3. The authority citation for 7 CFR part 1464 continues to read as 
    follows:
    
        Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1421, 1423, 1441, 1445, 1445-1 and 1445-2; 
    15 U.S.C. 714b and 714c.
    
        4. Section 1464.19 is amended by adding paragraph (e) to read as 
    follows:
    
    
    Sec. 1464.19  Burley (type 31) tobacco.
    
    * * * * *
        (e) The 1997 crop national price support level is 176.0 cents per 
    pound.
    
        Signed at Washington, DC, on May 21, 1997.
    Bruce R. Weber,
    Acting Administrator, Farm Service Agency and Acting Executive Vice 
    President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
    [FR Doc. 97-14382 Filed 6-2-97; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 3410-05-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
2/1/1997
Published:
06/03/1997
Department:
Commodity Credit Corporation
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Final rule.
Document Number:
97-14382
Dates:
February 1, 1997.
Pages:
30229-30230 (2 pages)
RINs:
0560-AF02: 1997-Crop Marketing Quota and Price Support Level for Burley Tobacco
RIN Links:
https://www.federalregister.gov/regulations/0560-AF02/1997-crop-marketing-quota-and-price-support-level-for-burley-tobacco
PDF File:
97-14382.pdf
CFR: (2)
7 CFR 723.112
7 CFR 1464.19