[Federal Register: April 4, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 64)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 16261-16263]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04ap07-1]
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Rules and Regulations
Federal Register
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[[Page 16261]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
7 CFR Part 915
[Docket No. AMS-FV-06-0170; FV07-915-1 FIR]
Avocados Grown in South Florida; Suspension of Weekly Handler
Reporting Requirements
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final
rule, without change, an interim final rule changing the reporting
requirements currently prescribed under the marketing order for
avocados grown in South Florida (order). The order regulates the
handling of avocados grown in South Florida and is administered locally
by the Avocado Administrative Committee (Committee). This rule
continues in effect the action that indefinitely suspended the weekly
handler reporting requirements specified under the order. The
information from the weekly reports is no longer being used by the
industry or the Committee staff and the germane information is
available from other sources. This action reduces the reporting burden
on handlers, while aligning information collection requirements with
the needs of the industry.
DATES: Effective Date: May 4, 2007.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William G. Pimental, Marketing
Specialist, or Christian D. Nissen, Regional Manager, Southeast
Marketing Field Office, Marketing Order Administration Branch, Fruit
and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA; Telephone: (863) 324-3375, Fax:
(863) 325-8793 or E-mail:
William.Pimental@usda.gov or Christian.Nissen@usda.gov, respectively.
Small businesses may request information on complying with this
regulation by contacting Jay Guerber, Marketing Order Administration
Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence
Avenue, SW., STOP 0237, Washington, DC 20250-0237; Telephone: (202)
720-2491, Fax: (202) 720-8938, or E-mail: Jay.Guerber@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This rule is issued under Marketing
Agreement No. 121 and Marketing Order No. 915, both as amended (7 CFR
part 915), regulating the handling of avocados grown in South Florida,
hereinafter referred to as the ``order.'' The order is effective under
the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, as amended (7 U.S.C.
601-674), hereinafter referred to as the ``Act.''
USDA is issuing this rule in conformance with Executive Order
12866.
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil
Justice Reform. This rule is not intended to have retroactive effect.
This rule will 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 608c(15)(A) of the
Act, any handler subject to an order may file with USDA 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. A
handler is afforded the opportunity for a hearing on the petition.
After the hearing USDA would rule on the petition. The Act provides
that the district court of the United States in any district in which
the handler is an inhabitant, or has his or her principal place of
business, has jurisdiction to review USDA's ruling on the petition,
provided an action is filed not later than 20 days after the date of
the entry of the ruling.
This rule continues in effect the action that modified the
reporting requirements prescribed under the order by indefinitely
suspending the weekly handler reporting requirements. The information
from the weekly report is no longer being used by the industry or the
Committee staff and the germane information is available from other
sources. This action reduces the reporting burden on handlers, while
aligning information collection requirements with the needs of the
industry. The Committee unanimously recommended this change at a
meeting on April 19, 2006.
Section 915.60 of the avocado marketing order provides authority
for the Committee to require handlers to file reports and provide other
information as may be necessary for the Committee to perform its
duties. Section 915.150 of the order's rules and regulations specifies
the requisite reporting requirements.
This rule continues in effect the action that revised Sec. 915.150
by indefinitely suspending paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) which specify
the weekly handler reporting requirements. Prior to this action,
handlers were required to submit a weekly report to the Committee
listing all avocados handled, the disposition of each lot of
noncertified avocados removed from handler's premises, and each lot of
noncertified avocados received from another district. The Committee
provided a form to assist handlers with supplying the required
information. This information was compiled into a report which was made
available to the industry. The Committee also used this data for
statistical reporting purposes, to assess handlers, and for program
compliance.
When instituted, the information from the weekly reports was
adequate for industry and Committee needs. However, for the past
several seasons, the industry has stopped requesting the reports
compiled from the weekly data. The Committee believes timely data is
necessary for the information to be valuable. The industry is still
interested in the volume of avocados handled, but weekly reports are
not timely enough to be beneficial when it comes to using such
information to help growers and handlers make harvesting and packing
decisions.
In addition to the weekly reporting information, the Committee
staff also receives daily shipment information for all avocado handlers
from the Federal-State Inspection Service (FSIS). This information is
collected from handlers
[[Page 16262]]
at the time of inspection and includes information on the volume
packed. The Committee staff uses this information to generate daily
shipping reports. The reports generated from the FSIS information are
more accurate and timely, and the industry finds this information to be
more beneficial. As such, the Committee staff has stopped generating
reports based on the weekly information.
Further, the Committee has found reporting at the time of
inspection to be an effective and efficient way of collecting
information. Recently, the rules and regulations were amended to
require handlers to report added information to the FSIS at the time of
inspection (70 FR 59622, October 13, 2005). With that change, handlers
are now required to provide information regarding the number of
avocados pack per container, in addition to the previous requirement
that handlers provide the number and sizes of containers packed.
In comparison, handlers find weekly reporting to be time consuming
and that it places an additional burden on their staff to ensure weekly
reports are submitted. Also, with some of the information contained in
the weekly report already being reported at the time of inspection, it
represents a duplication of effort.
At one time, the Committee staff used the information from the
weekly handler reports for statistical reporting purposes, to assess
handlers, and for program compliance. However, they too have found the
information in the daily shipment reports to be more useful, and of
more interest to the industry. Further, the Committee staff has not
been using the weekly reports to support program operations or for
compliance purposes for some time. The information needed for Committee
operations, marketing policies, and compliance is available from the
daily inspection information provided by FSIS and from other sources.
In addition, damages sustained from hurricanes in 2004 and 2005
resulted in a substantial reduction in assessment income. This rule
reduces the amount of time required by the Committee staff to monitor
handler reports. Thus, this rule offers the potential for cost savings.
This rule continues in effect the action that indefinitely
suspended the provisions requiring the submission of the weekly handler
report. The information collected under this requirement is no longer
being utilized and is not necessary for the operations of the order.
This action reduces the reporting burden on handlers and lessens the
reporting oversight demands on the Committee staff. Therefore, the
Committee voted unanimously to suspend Sec. 915.150 paragraphs (a),
(b), and (c).
Section 8e of the Act provides that when certain domestically
produced commodities, including avocados, are regulated under a Federal
marketing order, imports of that commodity must meet the same or
comparable grade, size, quality, and maturity requirements. As this
rule changes the reporting requirements under the domestic handling
regulations, no corresponding changes to the import regulations are
required.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has considered the
economic impact of this action on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has
prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of
business subject to such actions in order that small businesses will
not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. Marketing orders issued
pursuant to the Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are unique in
that they are brought about through group action of essentially small
entities acting on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have small
entity orientation and compatibility.
There are approximately 300 producers of avocados in the production
area and approximately 35 handlers subject to regulation under the
order. Small agricultural producers are defined by the Small Business
Administration (SBA) as those having annual receipts of less than
$750,000, and small agricultural service firms are defined as those
whose annual receipts are less than $6,500,000 (13 CFR 121.201).
According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service and
Committee data, the average price for Florida avocados during the 2005-
06 season was around $46.75 per 55-pound bushel container, and total
shipments were near 470,000 55-pound bushel equivalents. Using the
average price and shipment information provided by the Committee, the
majority of avocado handlers could be considered small businesses under
the SBA definition. In addition, based on avocado production, grower
prices, and the total number of Florida avocado growers, the average
annual grower revenue is less than $750,000. Thus, the majority of
Florida avocado producers may also be classified as small entities.
This rule changes the reporting requirements currently prescribed
under the order. This rule continues in effect the action that
indefinitely suspended the weekly handler reporting requirements
required under the order. The information from the weekly report is no
longer being used by the industry or the Committee staff and the
germane information is available from other sources. This action
reduces the reporting burden on handlers, while aligning information
collection requirements with the needs of the industry. This rule
revises Sec. 915.150, which specifies the requisite reporting
requirements. Authority for this action is provided for in Sec. 915.60
of the order. The Committee unanimously recommended this change at a
meeting held on April 19, 2006.
This rule is not expected to result in any additional costs for
handlers. This rule continues in effect the action that reduced the
reporting burden on handlers by indefinitely suspending the provisions
requiring the submission of a weekly report. It also reduces the amount
of time required by the Committee staff to monitor and review handler
reports. Thus, this rule offers the potential for cost savings. The
potential reduction in costs would benefit all handlers regardless of
their size. Consequently, the benefits of this rule are expected to be
equally available to all.
The Committee discussed keeping the weekly reporting requirements
in place as an alternative to this action. However, the Committee
believes continuing to collect information that is no longer being
utilized by the industry or the Committee staff is unnecessary.
Therefore, this alternative was rejected.
This rule will not impose any additional reporting or recordkeeping
requirements on either small or large avocado handlers. The form, FV-
215, ``Avocado Handler's Weekly Report Form'' is currently approved
under OMB No. 0581-0189, Generic OMB Fruit Crops. The information
collection for OMB No. 1581-0189 will be coming up for renewal, at
which time the reduction in burden for this form will be addressed. The
suspension of the reporting requirement reduces the overall burden for
that collection by 54 hours. As with all Federal marketing order
programs, reports and forms are periodically reviewed to reduce
information requirements and duplication by industry and public sector
agencies. In addition, USDA has not identified any relevant Federal
rules that duplicate, overlap or conflict with this rule.
The AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to
promote the use of the Internet and other
[[Page 16263]]
information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen
access to Government information and services, and for other purposes.
Further, the Committee's meeting was widely publicized throughout
the avocado industry and all interested persons were invited to attend
the meeting and participate in Committee deliberations. Like all
Committee meetings, the April 19, 2006, meeting was a public meeting
and all entities, both large and small, were able to express their
views on this issue.
An interim final rule concerning this action was published in the
Federal Register on December 22, 2006. Copies of the rule were mailed
by the Committee's staff to all Committee members and avocado handlers.
In addition, the rule was made available through the Internet by USDA
and the Office of the Federal Register. That rule provided for a 60-day
comment period which ended February 20, 2007. No comments were
received.
A small business guide on complying with fruit, vegetable, and
specialty crop marketing agreements and orders may be viewed at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/fv/moab.html.
Any questions about the compliance
guide should be sent to Jay Guerber at the previously mentioned address
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
After consideration of all relevant material presented, including
the Committee's recommendation, and other information, it is found that
finalizing the interim final rule, without change, as published in the
Federal Register (71 FR 76897, December 22, 2006) will tend to
effectuate the declared policy of the Act.
List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 915
Avocados, Marketing agreements, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
PART 915--AVOCADOS GROWN IN SOUTH FLORIDA
0
Accordingly, the interim final rule amending 7 CFR part 915 which was
published at 71 FR 76897 on December 22, 2006, is adopted as a final
rule without change.
Dated: March 29, 2007.
Lloyd C. Day,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. E7-6243 Filed 4-3-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P