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.

Proposed Rules Federal Register

62055 

Vol. 79, No. 200 

Thursday, October 16, 2014 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 319 

[Docket No. APHIS–2014–0002] 

RIN 0579–AD98 

Importation of Kiwi From Chile Into the 

United States 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: We are proposing to amend 

the fruits and vegetables regulations to 

list kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa and 

Actinidia chinensis) from Chile as 

eligible for importation into the United 

States subject to a systems approach. 

Under this systems approach, the fruit 

would have to be grown in a place of 

production that is registered with the 

Government of Chile and certified as 

having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus 

chilensis. The fruit would have to 

undergo pre-harvest sampling at the 

registered production site. Following 

post-harvest processing, the fruit would 

have to be inspected in Chile at an 

approved inspection site. Each 

consignment of fruit would have to be 

accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate with an additional 

declaration stating that the fruit had 

been found free of Brevipalpus chilensis 

based on field and packinghouse 

inspections. This proposed rule would 

allow for the safe importation of kiwi 

from Chile using mitigation measures 

other than fumigation with methyl 

bromide. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before December 

15, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/

#!docketDetail;D=APHIS-2014-0002. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Send your comment to Docket No. 

APHIS–2014–0002, Regulatory Analysis 

and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 

3A–03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1238. 

Supporting documents and any 

comments we receive on this docket 

may be viewed at http://

www.regulations.gov/#!docket

Detail;D=APHIS-2014-0002 or in our 

reading room, which is located in room 

1141 of the USDA South Building, 14th 

Street and Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC. Normal reading room 

hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, except holidays. To be 

sure someone is there to help you, 

please call (202) 799–7039 before 

coming. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Claudia Ferguson, Senior Regulatory 

Policy Specialist, Regulatory 

Coordination and Compliance, PPQ, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road, Unit 133, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 851– 

2352. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Under the regulations in ‘‘SubpartFruits and Vegetables’’ (7 CFR 319.56– 

1 through 319.56–71, referred to below 

as the regulations), the Animal and 

Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

prohibits or restricts the importation of 

fruits and vegetables into the United 

States from certain parts of the world to 

prevent plant pests from being 

introduced into and spread within the 

United States. 

The regulations in § 319.56–4(a) 

provide that fruits and vegetables that 

can be imported using one or more of 

the designated phytosanitary measures 

in § 319.56–4(b) to mitigate risk will be 

listed, along with the applicable 

requirements for their importation, on 

the Internet (currently in the Fruits and 

Vegetables Import Requirements 

[FAVIR] database at 

www.aphis.usda.gov/favir). Under those 

provisions, kiwi from Chile (Actinidia 

deliciosa and Actinidia chinensis) are 

currently listed in the FAVIR database 

as enterable subject to inspection in 

Chile or treatment with methyl bromide. 

The regulations in § 319.56–4(a) also 

provide that commodities that require 

phytosanitary measures other than those 

measures cited in § 319.56–4(b) may 

only be imported in accordance with 

applicable requirements in § 319.56–3 

and commodity-specific requirements 

contained elsewhere in the subpart. 

Under those provisions, baby kiwi 

(Actinidia arguta) from Chile are 

authorized for importation into the 

continental United States under a 

systems approach. The conditions 

applicable to the importation of baby 

kiwi from Chile are listed in § 319.56– 

53. 

In this document, we are proposing to 

amend § 319.56–53 to include kiwi that 

is currently enterable into the United 

States subject to inspection or treatment, 

thereby making the kiwi eligible for 

importation under the same systems 

approach as baby kiwi. 

Our review of the information 

supporting the safe importation into the 

United States of Chilean kiwi under the 

listed phytosanitary measures is 

examined in a commodity import 

evaluation document (CIED) titled 

‘‘Importation of Fresh Fruits of Kiwi 

(Actinidia deliciosa and Actinidia 

chinensis) from Chile into the United 

States.’’ The CIED may be viewed on the 

Regulations.gov Web site or in our 

reading room (see ADDRESSES above for 

instructions for accessing 

Regulations.gov and information on the 

location and hours of the reading room). 

You may request paper copies of the 

CIED by calling or writing to the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

In June 2010, APHIS recognized all of 

Chile as a Medfly-free area. Therefore, 

the CIED identifies one quarantine pest 

that could be introduced into the United 

States in consignments of kiwi from 

Chile: Brevipalpus chilensis. A 

quarantine pest is defined in § 319.56– 

2 as ‘‘a pest of potential economic 

importance to the area endangered 

thereby and not yet present there, or 

present but not widely distributed and 

being officially controlled.’’ In the CIED, 

the likelihood and consequences of 

introducing this pest to the United 

States are considered, and B. chilensis is 

rated as having a medium pest risk 

potential. Pests receiving a rating within 

the medium range may necessitate 

specific phytosanitary measures in 

addition to standard port-of-entry 

inspection of the commodity being 

imported into the United States. 

Based on the findings of our CIED, we 

are proposing to allow the importation 

of fresh kiwi from Chile into the United 

States, subject to the same systems 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

62056 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 200 / Thursday, October 16, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

approach in place for baby kiwi from 

Chile. Under a systems approach, a set 

of phytosanitary conditions, at least two 

of which have an independent effect in 

mitigating the pest risk associated with 

the movement of commodities, is 

specified, whereby fruits and vegetables 

may be imported into the United States 

from countries that are not free of 

certain plant pests. The systems 

approach for fresh kiwi from Chile 

would require the fruit to be grown in 

a place of production that is registered 

with the national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Chile. The fruit 

would have to undergo pre-harvest 

sampling at the registered production 

site under the direction of the NPPO of 

Chile and, once harvested, placed in 

field cartons or containers marked to 

allow for traceback to the production 

site. The NPPO of Chile would present 

a list of production sites certified as 

having a low prevalence of B. chilensis 

to APHIS. Following post-harvest 

processing, the fruit would have to be 

inspected in Chile at an APHISapproved inspection site under the 

direction of APHIS inspectors in 

coordination with the NPPO of Chile. 

Each consignment of the fruit would 

have to be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate with an 

additional declaration stating that the 

fruit had been found free of B. chilensis 

based on field and packinghouse 

inspections. 

The mitigation measures in the 

proposed systems approach are 

discussed in greater detail below. 

Production Site Registration 

The production site where the fruit is 

grown would have to be registered with 

the NPPO of Chile. Harvested kiwi 

would have to be placed in field cartons 

or containers that are marked to show 

the official registration number of the 

production site. Registration would 

have to be renewed annually. 

Registration of production sites with 

the NPPO of Chile and marking of field 

cartons or containers with the 

registration numbers would allow 

traceback to the production site if pest 

problems were found on fruit shipped to 

the United States. Problem production 

sites could then be removed from the 

program until further mitigation 

measures were taken to reduce pest 

populations. 

Low-Prevalence Production Site 

Certification 

Between 1 and 30 days prior to 

harvest, random samples of fruit would 

have to be collected from each 

registered production site under the 

direction of the NPPO of Chile. The 

number of fruit required to be sampled 

would be set forth in an operational 

workplan. An operational workplan is 

an agreement between APHIS’ Plant 

Protection and Quarantine program, 

officials of the NPPO of a foreign 

government, and, when necessary, 

foreign commercial entities that 

specifies in detail the phytosanitary 

measures that will comply with our 

regulations governing the import or 

export of a specific commodity. 

Operational workplans apply only to the 

signatory parties and establish detailed 

procedures and guidance for the day-today operations of specific import/export 

programs. Operational workplans also 

establish how specific phytosanitary 

issues are dealt with in the exporting 

country and make clear who is 

responsible for dealing with those 

issues. The implementation of a systems 

approach typically requires an 

operational workplan to be developed. 

We are proposing to amend the 

regulations to require that the NPPO of 

Chile provide APHIS with an 

operational workplan for the 

importation of baby kiwi and kiwi. 

The random samples of fruit would 

have to undergo a pest detection and 

evaluation method as follows: The fruit 

would have to be washed using a 

flushing method, placed in a 20-mesh 

sieve on top of a 200-mesh sieve, 

sprinkled with a liquid soap and water 

solution, washed with water at high 

pressure, and washed with water at low 

pressure. The washing process would 

then be repeated immediately after the 

first washing. The contents of the 200- 

mesh sieve would then be placed on a 

petri dish and analyzed for the presence 

of live B. chilensis mites. If a single live 

B. chilensis mite were found, the 

production site would not qualify for 

certification as a low-prevalence 

production site. Each production site 

would have only one opportunity per 

season to qualify as a low-prevalence 

production site, and certification of low 

prevalence would be valid for one 

harvest season only. The NPPO of Chile 

would be required to present a list of 

certified production sites to APHIS 

annually. 

Production site low-prevalence 

certification would identify problem 

production sites and prevent the 

shipment of fruit with B. chilensis mites 

from such sites. This mite sampling 

method is identical to the method 

currently in use for baby kiwi 

production areas in Chile and has been 

found to be successful in identifying 

production areas with high and low 

populations of mites. 

Post-Harvest Processing 

After harvest, all damaged or diseased 

fruits would have to be culled at the 

packinghouse, and the remaining fruit 

would have to be packed into new, 

clean boxes, crates, or other APHISapproved packing containers. Each 

container would have to have a label 

identifying the registered production 

site where the fruit originated and the 

packing shed where it was packed. 

Post-harvest processing procedures, 

such as culling damaged fruit and 

sampling for mites, would remove fruit 

that could contain pests from 

consignments being shipped to the 

United States. Culling is a standard 

procedure to produce quality fruit 

without pests. Labeling of containers to 

identify both production site and 

packing shed would aid in traceback. 

Phytosanitary Inspection 

The fruit would have to be inspected 

in Chile at an APHIS-approved 

inspection site under the direction of 

APHIS inspectors in coordination with 

the NPPO of Chile following any postharvest processing. A biometric sample 

would have to be drawn from each 

consignment. In order to be eligible for 

shipment to the continental United 

States, the fruit in the consignment 

would have to pass inspection by 

meeting the following requirements: 

• Fruit presented for inspection 

would have to be identified in the 

shipping documents accompanying 

each lot of fruit to specify the 

production site(s) where the fruit was 

produced and the packing shed(s) where 

the fruit was processed. This 

identification would have to be 

maintained until the fruit is released for 

entry into the United States. 

• The biometric sample referred to 

above of the boxes, crates, or other 

APHIS-approved packing containers 

from each consignment would be 

selected by the NPPO of Chile, and the 

fruit from these boxes, crates, or other 

APHIS-approved packing containers 

would be visually inspected for 

quarantine pests. A sample of the fruit 

selected in accordance with the 

operational workplan would have to be 

washed with soapy water and the 

collected filtrate microscopically 

examined for B. chilensis. If a single live 

B. chilensis mite were found during the 

inspection process, the certified lowprevalence production site where the 

fruit was grown would lose its 

certification. In addition, the production 

site of origin would be suspended from 

the low prevalence certification program 

for the remainder of the harvest season. 

The proposed requirements for the 

identification in shipping documents of 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 200 / Thursday, October 16, 2014 / Proposed Rules 62057 

the kiwi to their production sites and 

packing sheds would aid in traceback if 

pests were found. The proposed 

requirements for visual inspection and 

biometric sampling of the fruit would 

provide additional layers of protection 

against the possibility of kiwi infested 

with quarantine pests being shipped 

from Chile to the United States. These 

methods have proved effective when 

employed to inspect consignments of 

citrus and baby kiwi from Chile. 

Phytosanitary Certificate 

Each consignment of fruit would have 

to be accompanied by a phytosanitary 

certificate issued by the NPPO of Chile 

that contains an additional declaration 

stating that the fruit in the consignment 

was inspected and found free of B. 

chilensis based on field and 

packinghouse inspections and grown, 

packed, and shipped in accordance with 

§ 319.56–53. 

Requiring a phytosanitary certificate 

would ensure that the NPPO of Chile 

has inspected the fruit and certified that 

the fruit meets the conditions for export 

to the United States. 

Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory 

Flexibility Act 

This proposed rule has been 

determined to be not significant for the 

purposes of Executive Order 12866 and, 

therefore, has not been reviewed by the 

Office of Management and Budget. 

APHIS is proposing to amend the 

fruits and vegetables regulations to list 

kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa and Actinidia 

chinensis) from Chile as eligible for 

importation into the United States 

subject to a systems approach to pest 

risk mitigation. The systems approach, 

which integrates prescribed measures 

that cumulatively achieve the 

appropriate level of phytosanitary 

protection, would be the same that is 

currently applicable for the entry of 

baby kiwi (Actinidia arguta) from Chile 

into the continental United States. Kiwi 

from Chile is currently listed as 

enterable subject to inspection in Chile 

or treatment with methyl bromide. 

Production, consumption, and trade 

of kiwi by the United States have been 

expanding and are expected to continue 

to increase. Over the 5 years from 2008 

through 2012, U.S. kiwi production and 

imports expanded by about 29 percent 

and 24 percent, respectively, and U.S. 

exports by 48 percent. U.S. 

consumption of kiwi grew by about 23 

percent over this same 5-year period. 

However, the United States is 

dependent on imports for the major 

share of its kiwi supply. In 2012, nearly 

four of every five kiwis consumed in the 

United States were imported. Chile is 

the principal foreign source, supplying 

one-half of the kiwis imported by the 

United States in 2012, up from 

approximately one-third of U.S. kiwi 

imports in 2008. Chile is expected to 

continue to dominate the supply of kiwi 

to the United States in the near term. 

Under the proposed rule, Chile’s kiwi 

exporters would have the option of 

using the systems approach rather than 

relying on inspection of the fruit in 

Chile or fumigation with methyl 

bromide to meet import requirements. 

Although the United States is a net 

importer of kiwi, the percentage 

increase in U.S. kiwi exports, 2008– 

2012, was twice the percentage increase 

in U.S. kiwi imports; U.S. producers are 

actively expanding their sales to other 

countries. We also note that kiwi 

imports from Chile are largely counterseasonal to kiwi sales by domestic 

producers. California produces 98 

percent of the kiwis grown in the United 

States, and the California season runs 

October through May. Kiwi from Chile 

is predominantly imported during the 

spring and summer months. Ninety-four 

percent of Chilean kiwi imported in 

2012 arrived between April and 

September. Although kiwi production 

in the United States is expanding, it 

remains a relatively small agricultural 

industry, with fewer than 300 growers 

whose farms average about 13 acres 

each. Nevertheless, it is a vibrant 

industry with an expanding export 

market. This fact, together with the 

counter-seasonality of kiwi imports 

from Chile, suggests that the economic 

impact of the proposed rule for U.S. 

small entities would be minor. 

Under these circumstances, the 

Administrator of the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service has 

determined that this action would not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Executive Order 12988 

This proposed rule would allow kiwi 

to be imported into the United States 

from Chile. If this proposed rule is 

adopted, State and local laws and 

regulations regarding kiwi imported 

under this rule would be preempted 

while the fruit is in foreign commerce. 

Fresh fruits are generally imported for 

immediate distribution and sale to the 

consuming public and would remain in 

foreign commerce until sold to the 

ultimate consumer. The question of 

when foreign commerce ceases in other 

cases must be addressed on a case-bycase basis. If this proposed rule is 

adopted, no retroactive effect will be 

given to this rule, and this rule will not 

require administrative proceedings 

before parties may file suit in court 

challenging this rule. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule contains no new 

information collection or recordkeeping 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 

et seq.). 

Lists of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 319 

Coffee, Cotton, Fruits, Imports, Logs, 

Nursery stock, Plant diseases and pests, 

Quarantine, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Rice, 

Vegetables. 

Accordingly, we propose to amend 7 

CFR part 319 as follows: 

PART 319—FOREIGN QUARANTINE 

NOTICES 

■ 3. The authority citation for part 319 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

■ 4. Section 319.56–53 is amended as 

follows: 

■ a. By revising the section heading; 

■ b. By revising the introductory text; 

■ c. By redesignating paragraphs (a), (b), 

(c), (d), and (e) as paragraphs (b), (c), (d), 

(e), and (f), respectively, and adding a 

new paragraph (a); 

■ d. By revising the first and second 

sentences after the heading of newly 

designated paragraph (b); 

■ e. By revising the third sentence after 

the heading of newly designated 

paragraph (e); and 

■ f. By revising newly designated 

paragraph (f). 

The revisions and addition read as 

follows: 

§ 319.56–53 Fresh kiwi and baby kiwi from 

Chile. 

Fresh kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa and 

Actinidia chinensis) may be imported 

into the United States from Chile, and 

fresh baby kiwi (Actinidia arguta) may 

be imported into the continental United 

States from Chile under the following 

conditions: 

(a) The national plant protection 

organization (NPPO) of Chile must 

provide a workplan to APHIS that 

details the activities that the NPPO of 

Chile will, subject to APHIS’ approval of 

the workplan, carry out to meet the 

requirements of this section. 

(b) * * * The production site where 

the fruit is grown must be registered 

with the NPPO of Chile. Harvested kiwi 

and baby kiwi must be placed in field 

cartons or containers that are marked to 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS

62058 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 200 / Thursday, October 16, 2014 / Proposed Rules 

1Section 611.340(a)(4) requires that a tellers 

committee only consist of voting stockholders who 

are not directors, director-nominees, or members of 

that election cycle’s nominating committee. 

2Public Law 92–181, 85 Stat. 583 (1971), 12 

U.S.C. 2001 et seq. 

3Section 5.17(a)(9) of the Act authorizes the FCA 

to prescribe rules and regulations necessary or 

appropriate for carrying out {the} Act. 

4Section 4.20 of the Act requires that ‘‘[i]n any 

election or merger vote, or other proceeding subject 

to a vote of the stockholders . . . the institution (1) 

may not use signed ballots; and (2) shall implement 

measures to safeguard the voting process for the 

protection of the right of stockholders . . . to a 

secret ballot.’’ 

show the official registration number of 

the production site. * * * 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * Kiwi in any consignment 

may be shipped to the United States, 

and baby kiwi in any consignment may 

be shipped to the continental United 

States, under the conditions of this 

section only if the consignment passes 

inspection as follows: 

* * * * * 

(f) Phytosanitary certificate. Each 

consignment of fresh kiwi and fresh 

baby kiwi must be accompanied by a 

phytosanitary certificate issued by the 

NPPO of Chile that contains an 

additional declaration stating that the 

fruit in the consignment was inspected 

and found free of Brevipalpus chilensis 

and was grown, packed, and shipped in 

accordance with the requirements of 7 

CFR 319.56–53. 

* * * * * 

Done in Washington, DC, this 9th day of 

October 2014. 

Kevin Shea, 

Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2014–24631 Filed 10–15–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION 

12 CFR Part 611 

RIN 3052–AC85 

Organization; Institution Stockholder 

Voting Procedures 

AGENCY: Farm Credit Administration. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Farm Credit 

Administration (FCA, we or our) 

proposes to amend its existing rules 

related to Farm Credit System (Farm 

Credit or System) bank and association 

stockholder voting policies and 

procedures so as to continue to address 

confidentiality and security in voting. 

This rulemaking would amend FCA’s 

regulations to clarify and enhance 

voting procedures for tabulating votes, 

the use of tellers committees, and other 

items as identified. 

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule 

must be submitted on or before 

December 15, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: We offer a variety of 

methods for you to submit your 

comments. For accuracy and efficiency 

reasons, commenters are encouraged to 

submit comments by email or through 

the FCA’s Web site. As facsimiles (faxes) 

are difficult for us to process and 

achieve compliance with section 508 of 

the Rehabilitation Act, we no longer 

accept comments submitted via fax. 

Regardless of the method you use, 

please do not submit your comment 

multiple times via different methods. 

You may submit comments by any of 

the following methods: 

• Email: Send us an email at regcomm@fca.gov. 

• FCA Web site: http://www.fca.gov. 

Select ‘‘Public Commenters,’’ then 

‘‘Public Comments,’’ and follow the 

directions for ‘‘Submitting a Comment.’’ 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Barry F. Mardock, Deputy 

Director, Office of Regulatory Policy, 

Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm 

Credit Drive, McLean, VA 22102–5090. 

You may review copies of comments 

we receive at our office in McLean, 

Virginia, or on our Web site at http://

www.fca.gov. Once you are in the Web 

site, select ‘‘Public Commenters,’’ then 

‘‘Public Comments,’’ and follow the 

directions for ‘‘Reading Submitted 

Public Comments.’’ We will show your 

comments as submitted, but for 

technical reasons we may omit items 

such as logos and special characters. 

Identifying information that you 

provide, such as phone numbers and 

addresses, will be publicly available. 

However, we will attempt to remove 

email addresses to help reduce Internet 

spam. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas R. Risdal, Senior Policy 

Analyst, Office of Regulatory Policy, 

Farm Credit Administration, 1501 

Farm Credit Drive, McLean, VA, (703) 

883–4257, TTY (703) 883–4056; or 

Nancy Tunis, Senior Attorney, Office of 

General Counsel, Farm Credit 

Administration, McLean, VA 22102– 

5090, (703) 883–4061, TTY (703) 883– 

4056. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Objectives 

The primary objective of this 

proposed rule is to clarify § 611.340 of 

our regulations regarding confidentiality 

and security in stockholder voting 

procedures and facilitate their safe and 

sound implementation by System 

institutions. Specifically, this proposed 

rule would clarify that: 

• A System bank or association may 

use a tellers committee 1 to tabulate 

ballots and still maintain confidentiality 

and security of the voting process; and 

• A small number of administrative 

employees of a bank or association may 

assist a tellers committee in verifying a 

stockholder’s eligibility to vote. 

II. Background 

The Farm Credit Act of 1971, as 

amended (Act) 2, authorizes the FCA to 

issue regulations implementing the 

Act’s provisions.3 Our regulations are 

intended to ensure the safe and sound 

operations of System institutions. In 

order to fulfill our responsibility to 

maintain the safety and soundness of 

System institutions, the FCA’s 

regulations provide that banks and 

associations must ensure the 

confidentiality and security of 

stockholder voting, while maintaining 

cooperative principles.4

Section 611.340 of the FCA’s 

regulations requires that the board of 

directors of each System bank and 

association adopt policies and 

procedures to ensure the confidentiality 

and security of all records and materials 

related to a stockholder vote including, 

but not limited to, ballots, proxy ballots, 

and other related materials. Also, this 

section requires that System bank and 

association policies and procedures 

ensure that ballots and proxy ballots are 

provided only to stockholders who are 

eligible to vote as of the record date set 

for the stockholder vote. Banks and 

associations must ensure the 

confidentiality of all information and 

materials regarding how or whether an 

individual stockholder has voted, 

including protecting the information 

from disclosure to anyone except vote 

tabulators and the FCA. 

III. Analysis 

We request any interested person to 

submit comments on this proposed rule 

and ask that you support your 

comments with relevant data or 

examples. The FCA proposes the 

following changes to § 611.340: 

A. Section 611.340(a) 

In order to facilitate stockholders 

participation in their bank’s or 

association’s voting process and 

potentially reduce the cost of tabulating 

votes, the FCA seeks to clarify the 

language of § 611.340(a)(3) and 

§ 611.340(a)(4) regarding the use of a 

tellers committee. Existing 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS