[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 126 (Friday, July 1, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-16061]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: July 1, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
7 CFR Part 1205
[CN-94-006]
RIN 0581-AB29
Amendment to Cotton Research and Promotion Regulations Regarding
Assessment of Imported Cotton-Containing Products
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is amending the
Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to allow for the continuation of
collections on renumbered imported cotton-containing products as long
as no change in the product's Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)
description occurs. Since renumbering of products by the U.S. Customs
Service occurs rather frequently, providing for a continuation of
assessment collection will prevent unnecessary and costly interruptions
of the program.
DATES: This rule is effective upon publication. Comments received by
August 1, 1994, will be considered prior to issuance of a final rule.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments
concerning this rule to Craig Shackelford, Cotton Division, AMS, USDA,
P.O. Box 96456, Room 2641-S, Washington D.C. 20090-6456, or by
facsimile (202) 690-1718. Three copies of all written materials shall
be submitted, and they will be made available for public inspection in
the office of the Cotton Division, Washington D.C., during regular
business hours. All comments should reference docket number, date, and
page number of this issue of the Federal Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Shackelford, Chief, Cotton
Research and Promotion Staff, Cotton Division, AMS, USDA, P.O. Box
96456, Room 2641-S, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456; or telephone: (202)
720-2259.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule has been determined to be not
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866, and therefore has
not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12778, Civil
Justice Reform. It is not intended to have retroactive effect. This
rule would 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 12 of
the Act, any person 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. Such person 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 person is an inhabitant, or has his principal
place of business, has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's ruling,
provided a complaint is filed within 20 days from the date of the entry
or the ruling.
There are an estimated 10,000 importers who are presently subject
to rules and regulations issued pursuant to the Cotton Research and
Promotion Order 7 U.S.C. 2101-2118. This rule will affect importers of
cotton and products containing cotton. The majority of these importers
are small businesses under the criteria established by the Small
Business Administration. This rule will help ensure the uninterrupted
collection of assessments on products already subject to assessment.
The AMS Administrator has determined that this interim final rule
will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities, as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C.
601 et seq.).
In compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
regulations (5 CFR Part 1320) which implement the Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the information collection and
recordkeeping requirements contained in this subpart have been
previously approved by OMB and assigned control number 0581-0093.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is found and determined upon good
cause that it is impractical, unnecessary, and contrary to the public
interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into
effect and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date
of action until 30 days after publication in the Federal Register
because: (1) it would be disruptive, costly, and inefficient to permit
a substantial interruption in assessment collections; and (2) this
interim final rule provides for a 30-day comment period, and all
comments will be considered prior to finalization of this action.
In July of 1992, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) finalized
rules and regulations for the authority to collect assessments on
cotton and cotton-containing products as authorized in the 1990 Farm
Bill. In order to designate specific imported products subject to
assessment, AMS published, within the implementing regulations, a table
of approximately 700 HTS numbers and individual assessment rates for
each. Collections began on August 1, 1992. Soon after, the Department
of Commerce changed certain HTS numbers that USDA had identified as
subject to the assessment. During the first 17 months of import
assessments, AMS has found that the Department of Commerce may revise
HTS numbers as a result of presidential proclamation, congressional
actions, statistical tracking requirements, etc. Often, these changed
numbers are merely replacements of previous numbers and have no impact
on the physical properties, description or cotton content of the
product it represents.
The U.S. Customs Service informed USDA prior to the publishing of
this rule that several HTS numbers listed in the Import Assessment
Table contained in 7 CFR 1205.510 would no longer be valid as of
January 1, 1994, because of recent statistical changes made by the
Department of Commerce. These statistical changes to the HTS numbers
were made for reasons associated with the implementation of the North
American Free Trade Agreement.
In order to collect cotton research and promotion assessments on
imported products containing cotton, HTS numbers listed in the
Assessment Table in 7 CFR 1205.510 must correspond to numbers listed in
the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. USDA has found that frequent rulemaking
is necessary in order to maintain an up-to-date list of HTS numbers in
the regulations which provide the U.S. Customs Service the authority to
collect cotton research and promotion assessments on imported cotton
and products containing cotton.
Changes made to HTS numbers during calendar year 1993 have resulted
in reduced collections by U.S. Customs under the import assessment
program averaging over $30,000 per month.
USDA has reason to believe that changes in HTS numbering and the
resulting impact on the Cotton Research and Promotion Program will
continue. U.S. international trade agreements such as NAFTA, GATT, and
changes in most favored nation trading status for certain textile
producing countries will, according to the U.S. Customs Service,
generate changes in HTS headings on a continuing basis. The Cotton
Research and Promotion Program would in this environment experience an
unpredictable loss of revenue.
With the number and frequency of HTS number changes USDA expects,
updating the list of HTS numbers through rulemaking is an impractical
solution to minimizing interruptions in assessment collections.
Therefore, this rule provides for the continued collection of
assessments when HTS numbers are changed so long as such changes have
no impact on the physical properties, description, or cotton content of
the products involved.
It is important to note that Commerce does renumber HTS headings
where an actual change in the product occurs. This rule would not
address this type of renumbering. USDA would continue to suspend
assessments in these situations until the cotton content and a revised
assessment rate could be determined and the assessment table revised.
Based on discussions with importers and U.S. Customs Service
officials, USDA has determined that the import community supports
continuing to pay assessments on products when numbers have changed but
the product remains the same. In fact, suspending collections on HTS
headings that undergo mere renumbering is causing confusion for
importers and Customs. Customs officials have informed USDA that they
can program their automated computer collection system to continue
collecting assessments when HTS headings undergo renumbering.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 1205
Advertising, Agricultural research, Cotton, Marketing agreements,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 1205 is
amended as follows:
PART 1205--COTTON RESEARCH AND PROMOTION
1. The authority citation for Part 1205 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 7 U.S.C. 2101-2118.
2. In Sec. 1205.510, paragraph (b)(3) is revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 1205.510 Levy of assessments.
* * * * *
(b) * * *
(3) The following table contains Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)
classification numbers and corresponding conversion factors and
assessments. The left column of the following table indicates the HTS
classifications of imported cotton and cotton-containing products
subject to assessment. The center column indicates the conversion
factor for determining the raw fiber content for each kilogram of the
HTS. HTS numbers for raw cotton have no conversion factor in the table.
The right column indicates the total assessment per kilogram of the
article assessed.
(i) Any line item entry of cotton appearing on Customs entry
documentation in which the value of the cotton contained therein is
less than $220.99 will not be subject to assessments as described in
this section.
(ii) In the event that any HTS number subject to assessment is
changed and such change is merely a replacement of a previous number
and has no impact on the physical properties, description, or cotton
content of the product involved, assessments will continue to be
collected based on the new number.
* * * * *
Dated: June 27, 1994.
Lon Hatamiya,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-16061 Filed 6-30-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
