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.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

71459 

Vol. 88, No. 199 

Tuesday, October 17, 2023 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 52 

[Doc. No. AMS–SC–21–0091] 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Processed Raisins 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) of the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) has revised the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Processed 

Raisins. AMS is modifying two 

references to the allowances for 

capstems within the standards to 

modernize the standards to reflect 

current industry practices. The revision 

also includes minor editorial changes to 

the table headings to align with updated 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

formatting requirements and correction 

of a typographical error from a previous 

revision. 

DATES: Effective November 16, 2023. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Brian E. Griffin, USDA, Specialty Crops 

Inspection Division, 100 Riverside 

Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, VA 

22406; Telephone (202) 748–2155; Fax 

(202) 690–1527; or Email 

SCIStandards@usda.gov. Copies of the 

U.S. Standards for Grades of Processed 

Raisins are available on the Specialty 

Crops Inspection Division website at 

https://www.ams.usda.gov/gradesstandards/fruits. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

action, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, 

amends regulations at 7 CFR part 52 

issued under the Agricultural Marketing 

Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627), as 

amended. This revision to the U.S. 

grade standards will also be reflected in 

enforcement of the grade requirements 

under the Federal marketing order, 7 

CFR part 989, issued under the 

Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act 

of 1937 (7 U.S.C. 601–674) which 

regulates the handling of raisins 

produced from grapes grown in 

California, and 7 CFR part 999, which 

regulates the importation of raisins into 

the United States. AMS is revising these 

U.S. Standards for Grades using the 

procedures that appear in part 36 of title 

7 of the Code of Federal Regulations (7 

CFR part 36). 

Executive Orders 12866, 13563, and 

14094 

USDA is issuing this rule in 

conformance with Executive Orders 

12866, 13563, and 14094. Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563 direct agencies 

to assess all costs and benefits of 

available regulatory alternatives and, if 

regulation is necessary, to select 

regulatory approaches that maximize 

net benefits (including potential 

economic, environmental, public health 

and safety effects, distributive impacts, 

and equity). Executive Order 13563 

emphasizes the importance of 

quantifying both costs and benefits, 

reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and 

promoting flexibility. Executive Order 

14094 reaffirms, supplements, and 

updates Executive Order 12866 and 

further directs agencies to solicit and 

consider input from a wide range of 

affected and interested parties through a 

variety of means. This action falls 

within a category of regulatory actions 

that the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) has exempted from 

review under Executive Order 12866. 

Executive Order 13175 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 13175—Consultation 

and Coordination With Indian Tribal 

Governments, which requires agencies 

to consider whether their rulemaking 

actions would have Tribal implications. 

AMS has determined that this rule is 

unlikely to have substantial direct 

effects on one or more Indian Tribes, on 

the relationship between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes, or on 

the distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

Government and Indian Tribes. 

Executive Order 12988 

This rule has been reviewed under 

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice 

Reform. This action is not intended to 

have retroactive effect. There are no 

administrative procedures that must be 

exhausted prior to any judicial 

challenge to the provisions of this rule. 

Background 

AMS continually reviews all fruit and 

vegetable grade standards to ensure 

their usefulness to the industry, and to 

modernize language and remove 

duplicative terminology. Changes to the 

headings for all tables within the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Processed 

Raisins are required to reflect current 

CFR formatting requirements. 

Conforming changes to cross references 

to those tables within the standards are 

also applied. After publication of the 

proposed rule (88 FR 14296, March 8, 

2023) a typographical error was found 

in Table 1 to § 52.1852—Allowances for 

Defects in Raisins with Seeds—Except 

Layer or Cluster. Under Defects, Pieces 

of Stem, U.S. Grade A, allowances were 

erroneously listed as 7, and are 

corrected to read as 1. 

On October 13, 2017, AMS received a 

petition from the Raisin Administrative 

Committee (RAC), which locally 

administers the Federal marketing order 

regulating the handling of raisins 

produced from grapes grown in 

California (7 CFR part 989). The petition 

requested that AMS reduce the number 

of allowable capstems for all varietals, 

except Zante Currants, in all three 

Grades (A, B, and C) as follows: for Type 

I, Seedless Raisins and Type II, Golden 

Seedless Raisins the allowances for 

capstems would change in Grade A, 

from 15 to 10, in Grade B from 25 to 15, 

and in Grade C from 35 to 20. For 

Sultana Raisins the allowances for 

capstems would change in Grade A from 

25 to 10, in Grade B from 45 to 15, and 

in Grade C from 65 to 20. The RAC 

further stated that, since 1978, the 

industry has adopted major 

improvements, including laser sorters, 

x-rays, and super vacuums, which allow 

the industry to clean and sort with far 

superior results that ultimately exceed 

the current U.S. Standards for Grades of 

Processed Raisins. 

The AMS Agricultural Analytics 

Division (AAD) performed a study 

encompassing a total of 28,059 

inspection results of all varietals, except 

Zante Currants, of both domestically 

produced raisins and imported raisins 

to compare USDA inspection results for 

capstems for a specified period of time 

with those that would be obtained 

under the proposed changes submitted 


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71460 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 17, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 

1The SBA threshold for small producers changed 

after the publication of the proposed rule. Thus, 

AMS changed the threshold to reflect the new SBA 

threshold in this final rule. The change to the raisin 

producer threshold does not impact AMS’s ultimate 

determination regarding the impact of the rule on 

small entities. 

2The SBA threshold for small agricultural service 

firms (handlers) changed after the publication of the 

proposed rule. Thus, AMS changed the threshold to 

reflect the new SBA threshold in this final rule. The 

change to the handler threshold does not impact 

AMS’s ultimate determination regarding the impact 

of the rule on small entities. 

by the RAC based on data collected from 

AMS offices. AAD found that only 

slightly more than 1% of raisin 

inspections would result in a change of 

grade under the proposed rule. 

AMS also contacted the United 

Nations Economic Commission for 

Europe’s (UNECE) largest member 

countries that produce raisins; Turkey; 

Germany, Europe’s largest importer and 

consumer of raisins and dean of the 

European Union standardization sector; 

and the International Nut and Dried 

Fruit Council (INC), the largest 

international dry produce (fruits and 

nuts) member organization. AMS 

reached out in July 2020 and heard 

responses from October 2020 to 

February 2021 and ultimately made the 

decision to continue forward. While 

there was not consensus on the changes, 

which is not uncommon, with the AAD 

finding that only slightly more than 1% 

of recent raisin inspections would result 

in a change of grade under the proposed 

rule, AMS concluded that the proposed 

rule would not be overly burdensome 

on the domestic or international market, 

if enacted. 

Comments 

On March 8, 2023, AMS published a 

proposed rule inviting comments on 

proposed revisions to the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Processed 

Raisins in the Federal Register (88 FR 

14296). Two anonymous comments 

were received, one suggesting no price 

increase based on increased regulation, 

and one not supporting the proposed 

changes stating, ‘‘The AMS believes that 

they will not have a significant impact 

on the market if they are enacted, so 

they are not worth to put into effect.’’ 

The intent of the AMS comments 

regarding the significance of impact on 

handlers or growers is based on the 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, 

which considered the economic impact 

of this action on small entities. Based on 

the initial Regulatory Flexibility 

Analysis, AMS does not believe there 

will be significant impact on handlers’ 

or growers’ benefits or costs. AMS is 

moving forward with the revisions as 

proposed by the RAC as they provide 

common language for trade and better 

reflect the current marketing of 

processed raisins. 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Pursuant to the requirements set forth 

in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 

AMS has considered the economic 

impact of this action on small entities. 

Accordingly, AMS has prepared this 

regulatory flexibility analysis. 

The purpose of the RFA is to fit 

regulatory actions to the scale of 

businesses subject to such actions so 

that small businesses will not be unduly 

or disproportionately burdened. 

According to the industry, there are 

approximately 2,000 raisin growers in 

California. According to the National 

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), 

for the 2020/21 season, the total value 

of production for raisin grapes was 

$353,200,000. Taking the total value of 

production for raisins and dividing it by 

the total number of raisin growers 

provides a return per grower of 

$176,600. A small raisins grower as 

defined by the Small Business 

Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 121.201) 

is one that grosses $4,000,000 1 or less, 

annually. Therefore, most raisin 

producers are considered small entities 

under SBA’s standards. 

According to the industry, for the 

2020/21 season there are 22 handlers. A 

small agricultural service firm as 

defined by the SBA is one that grosses 

$34,000,000 2 or less, annually. Based 

on the annual handler report, for the 

2020/21 season, 242,427 tons of raisins 

have been transferred to handlers for 

packing and shipment as of August 31, 

2021. The average grower price for 

raisins, for the 2020 crop, was $1,191 

per ton. A reasonable assumption is that 

handlers would sell at a 10 percent 

markup over the grower price, resulting 

in a selling price of approximately 

$1,310 per ton. Multiplying the 

handler’s selling price per ton by the 

total number of packed tons shipped 

during the 2020 season provides a gross 

revenue of $317,579,370. Dividing the 

total revenue by the number of handlers 

reveals an average revenue per handler 

of $14,435,425. Based on the 

calculations above, the majority of raisin 

handlers are considered small entities 

under SBA’s standard. This action 

should not have any impact on 

handlers’ or growers’ benefits or costs. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 52 

Administrative practice, Fees, Food 

grades and standards, Food labeling, 

Frozen foods, Fruit juices, Fruits, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Vegetables. 

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 

the Agricultural Marketing Service 

amends 7 CFR part 52 as follows: 

PART 52—PROCESSED FRUITS AND 

VEGETABLES, PROCESSED 

PRODUCTS THEREOF, AND CERTAIN 

OTHER PROCESSED FOOD 

PRODUCTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

■ 2. Amend § 52.1846 by: 

■ a. Removing, in paragraphs (a), (b), 

and (c) the words ‘‘Table I of this 

subpart’’ and adding in their places the 

words ‘‘table 1 to this section’’; and 

■ b. Revising, in the table following 

paragraph (d), the heading and the entry 

for ‘‘Capstems.’’ 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 52.1846 Grades of seedless raisins. 

* * * * * 

TABLE 1 TO § 52.1846—ALLOWANCES FOR DEFECTS IN TYPE I, SEEDLESS RAISINS AND TYPE II, GOLDEN SEEDLESS

RAISINS

Defects U.S. Grade A U.S. Grade B U.S. Grade C 

*******

Maximum count (per 16 ounces) 

Capstems ................................................................................................................... 10 15 20 

*******


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 199 / Tuesday, October 17, 2023 / Rules and Regulations 71461 

§ 52.1849 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend § 52.1849 by removing the 

words ‘‘Table I’’ and adding in their 

place the words ‘‘table 1 to § 52.1846’’. 

■ 4. Amend § 52.1852 by: 

■ a. Removing, in paragraphs (a), (b), 

and (c), the words ‘‘Table II of this 

subpart’’ and adding in their places the 

words ‘‘table 1 to this section’’; and 

■ b. Revising, in the table following 

paragraph (d), the heading and the entry 

for ‘‘Pieces of Stem.’’ 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 52.1852 Grades of raisins with seeds— 

except layer or cluster. 

* * * * * 

TABLE 1 TO § 52.1852—ALLOWANCES FOR DEFECTS IN RAISINS WITH SEEDS—EXCEPT LAYER OR CLUSTER

Defects U.S. Grade A U.S. Grade B U.S. Grade C 

Maximum count (per 32 ounces) 

Pieces of Stem ........................................................................................................... 1 2 3 

*******

■ 5. Amend § 52.1853 by: 

■ a. Removing, in paragraphs (a) and (b), 

the words ‘‘Table III of this subpart’’ and 

adding in their place the words ‘‘table 

1 to this section’’; and 

■ b. Revising the heading of the table 

following paragraph ©. 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 52.1853 Grades of raisins with seeds— 

layer or cluster. 

* * * * * 

Table 1 to § 52.1853—Allowances for 

Defects in Layer or Cluster Raisins 

with Seeds 

* * * * * 

■ 6. Amend § 52.1855 by: 

■ a. Moving table IV to the end of the 

section following paragraph (d); 

■ b. Removing, in paragraphs (a), (b), 

and (c), the words ‘‘Table IV of this 

subpart’’ and adding in their place the 

words ‘‘table 1 to this section’’; and 

■ c. Revising, in the table following 

paragraph (d), the heading and the entry 

for ‘‘Capstems.’’ 

The revisions read as follows: 

§ 52.1855 Grades of Sultana raisins. 

* * * * * 

TABLE 1 TO § 52.1855—ALLOWANCES FOR DEFECTS IN SULTANA RAISINS

Defects U.S. Grade A U.S. Grade B U.S. Grade C 

*******

Maximum count (per 16 ounces) 

Capstems ................................................................................................................... 10 15 20 

*******

■ 7. Amend § 52.1857 by: 

■ a. Moving table V to the end of the 

section following paragraph (c); 

■ b. Removing in paragraphs (a) and (b) 

the words ‘‘Table V of this subpart’’ and 

adding in their place the words ‘‘table 

1 to this section’’; and 

■ c. Revising the heading of the table 

following paragraph (c). 

The revision reads as follows: 

§ 52.1857 Grades of zante currant raisins. 

* * * * * 

Table 1 to § 52.1857—Allowances for 

Defects in Zante Currant Raisins 

* * * * * 

Erin Morris, 

Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. 2023–22695 Filed 10–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 39 

[Docket No. FAA–2023–1492; Project 

Identifier MCAI–2023–00195–T; Amendment 

39–22571; AD 2023–20–12] 

RIN 2120–AA64 

Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS 

Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The FAA is superseding 

Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2022–18– 

09, which applied to certain Airbus SAS 

Model A319–111, –112, –113, –114, 

–115, –131, –132, and –133; A320–211, 

–212, –214, –216, –231, –232, –233, 

–251N, and –271N; and A321–111, 

–112, –131, –211, –212, –213, –231, 

–232, –251N, and –253N airplanes. AD 

2022–18–09 continued to require the 

actions in AD 2019–26–01 and AD 

2021–23–15, and added airplanes to the 

applicability. Since the FAA issued AD 

2022–18–09, it was determined that 

additional airplanes and galleys are 

subject to the unsafe condition, and a 

compliance time for certain airplanes 

should be extended. This AD continues 

to require the actions in AD 2022–18– 

09 and requires expanding the 

applicability, obtaining and following 

additional instructions for certain 

modified airplanes, and extending the 

compliance time for certain airplanes, as 

specified in a European Union Aviation 

Safety Agency (EASA) AD, which is 

incorporated by reference. The FAA is 

issuing this AD to address the unsafe 

condition on these products. 

DATES: This AD is effective November 

21, 2023. 

The Director of the Federal Register 

approved the incorporation by reference 


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