Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Notices 19169 

beans containing over 18.0 percent 

moisture. While we will continue to 

show the special grade designation High 

moisture’’ on the grade line, we intend 

to eliminate the requirement that the 

percentage of moisture be shown on the 

grade line. Rather, we plan to enter the 

percentage of moisture, if applicable, in 

the ‘‘Results’’ section of the certificate. 

Additionally, for the class of Mixed 

beans, we currently require inspectors 

to include the breakdown of the 

different classes, in order of 

predominance, on the grade line of the 

certificate. Instead of showing this 

information on the grade line, we plan 

to enter such information in the 

‘‘Results’’ section of the certificate. This 

approach will not change the grade of 

the product. We intend for these 

changes to improve the readability of 

the certificate. The grade line will 

provide the grade designation, which 

includes special grade designations, 

when applicable, and other related 

information will be provided in the 

Remarks section of the certificate. 

Further, this change in the U.S. 

standards for Beans will better align 

certification requirements in beans with 

other graded commodities such as rice. 

Comments 

We are requesting comments for 30 

days. All comments received within the 

comment period will be made part of 

the public record we maintain, will be 

available to the public for review, and 

will be considered before we take final 

action. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

James E. Link, 

Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. E7–7242 Filed 4–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

United States Standards for Whole Dry 

Peas, Split Peas, and Lentils 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; request for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: We plan to revise the U.S. 

standards for Whole Dry Peas, Split 

Peas, and Lentils to provide applicants 

for service with an optional grade 

designation for pea and lentil 

certification and to remove the 

requirement that, in the case of Mixed 

Dry Peas, the percentage of each class in 

the mixture be shown on the grade line. 

DATES: We will consider comments that 

we receive by May 17, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit 

comments on this notice. You may 

submit comments by any of the 

following methods: 

• E-mail: Send comments via 

electronic mail to 

comments.gipsa@usda.gov. 

• Mail: Send hardcopy written 

comments to Tess Butler, GIPSA, USDA, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

1647–S, Washington, DC 20250–3604. 

• Fax: Send comments by facsimile 

transmission to: (202) 690–2755. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver 

comments to: Tess Butler, GIPSA, 

USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Room 1647–S, Washington, DC, 

20250–3604. 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Instructions: All comments should 

refer to the date and page number of this 

issue of the Federal Register. 

• Read Comments: All comments will 

be available for public inspection in the 

above office during regular business 

hours (7 CFR 1.27 (b)). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Beverly A. Whalen at USDA, GIPSA, 

FGIS, FMD, Suite 180, STOP 1404, 6501 

Beacon Drive, Kansas City, Missouri 

64133; Telephone (816) 823–4648; Fax 

Number (816) 823–4644; e-mail 

Beverly.A.Whalen@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Agricultural Marketing Act of 

1946, as amended (AMA), directs and 

authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture 

to develop and improve standards for 

agricultural products (7 U.S.C. 1622). 

These are standards of quality, 

condition, quantity, grade, and 

packaging. The intent of such standards 

is to encourage uniformity and 

consistency in commercial practices. 

We establish and maintain a variety of 

quality and grade standards for 

agricultural commodities. These 

standards serve as the fundamental 

starting point to define commodity 

quality in the domestic and global 

marketplace. We provide official 

procedures for how inspectors 

determine the various grading factors in 

supporting handbooks, such as the Pea 

and Lentil Handbook. The AMA 

standards and supporting procedures 

are voluntary and widely used in 

private contracts, government 

procurement, marketing 

communication, and, for some 

commodities, consumer information. 

Standards developed under the AMA 

include rice, whole dry peas, split peas, 

feed peas, lentils, and beans. The U.S. 

standards for Whole Dry Peas, Split 

Peas, Feed Peas, Lentils, and Beans do 

not appear in the Code of Federal 

Regulations (although the process by 

which we develop these standards is 

specified through the regulations in 7 

CFR 868.102, Procedures for 

establishing and revising grade 

standards); however, the standards are 

available on the GIPSA Web site at 

http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/GIPSA/ 

webapp?area=home&

subject=grpi&topic=sq-ous and by 

contacting the Field Management 

Division (FMD) at the above address. 

We provide the official procedures for 

how inspectors determine the various 

grading factors in various supporting 

handbooks, such as the Pea and Lentil 

Handbook, which you may view and 

print from the GIPSA Web site at http:// 

www.gipsa.usda.gov/GIPSA/ 

webapp?area=home&

subject=lr&topic=hb-pl. 

Optional Grade Designation and 

Certification Procedures 

We work closely with the U.S. Dry 

Pea and Lentil Council (USDPLC) and 

others in the pea and lentil industries to 

examine the effectiveness of the U.S. 

standards in today’s marketing 

environment. It appears that the current 

standards continue to meet consumer 

and processor needs; however, both the 

rice and grain industries have optional 

certification procedures. We have 

determined that these certification 

procedures could be beneficial to the 

pea and lentil industries, as well. 

Currently, inspectors certify peas and 

lentils offered for inspection as a 

specific quality (U.S. grade), such as 

U.S. No. 2 Smooth Green Dry Peas. 

Certifying a specific grade is commonly 

referred to in the rice and grain 

industries as ‘‘Option 1’’ grade 

designation. This works well most of the 

time, however, there are exceptions. At 

times, sellers find when preparing to 

load peas or lentils for shipment that the 

supply of a particular grade of pea or 

lentil may be insufficient to meet the 

quality and quantity requirements 

specified in the sales contract. When 

this happens, the seller may find it 

necessary to ship peas or lentils of a 

better quality. However, current 

inspection procedures do not allow the 

flexibility to describe or certify superior 

quality peas or lentils as being of a 

lower quality. If the lot presented for 

inspection is not uniform in quality for 

the declared grade, the inspector 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
19170 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Notices 

certifies each portion separately 

according to quality. That is, if a 

consignment consists of both U.S. No. 1 

and 2 Smooth Green Dry Peas, current 

procedure requires that the quantity 

representing each of the different 

qualities receive separate certification. 

Such certification may not meet the 

terms of sale for the contract. 

The U.S. standards for rice and grains 

offer an alternative approach that is 

termed ‘‘Option 2’’ grade designation. 

When a contract specifies an Option 2 

grade designation, the applicant may 

specifically request Option 2 

certification. Under Option 2 

certification, there is no limitation 

placed on the amount of better quality 

grain in the lot. When a lot meets or is 

of better quality than the declared grade, 

inspectors include the term ‘‘or better’’

immediately following the numerical or 

sample grade designation. 

We would like to offer the Option 2 

grade designation and certification 

approach for peas and lentils. Under 

such an approach, peas or lentils that 

are a better quality than that specified 

by the contract would be certified as a 

specific grade ‘‘or better;’’ (for example, 

U.S. No. 2, or better, Smooth Dry Peas). 

The applicant for inspection can obtain 

the optional certification procedure by 

requesting it on the application for 

inspection. The applicant would file the 

request for the optional certification 

prior to the beginning of inspection so 

the inspector knows how to certify the 

lot. We believe that Option 2 grade 

designation and certification will better 

align the pea and lentil industries with 

the rice and grain industries, provide 

sellers with the flexibility to ship peas 

and lentils of better quality, and provide 

buyers with the desirable option of 

receiving better quality. 

Mixed Whole Dry Peas 

We also intend to eliminate the 

requirement that certain grade related 

information be shown on the grade line 

of the certificate for the class of Mixed 

Whole Dry Peas. Currently, the U.S. 

standards for Whole Dry Peas require a 

breakdown of the different classes, in 

order of predominance, be shown on the 

grade line of the certificate, in addition 

to the regular grade designation 

information, when the peas are classed 

as Mixed peas. Instead of showing this 

information on the grade line, we plan 

to enter such information in the 

‘‘Results’’ section of the certificate. This 

approach will not change the grade of 

the product. We intend for the change 

to improve the readability of the 

certificate. The grade line will provide 

the grade designation and other related 

information will be provided in the 

‘‘Results’’ section of the certificate. 

Further, this change in the U.S. 

standards for Whole Dry Peas will better 

align certification requirements in peas 

with other graded commodities such as 

rice, beans, and lentils. 

Comments 

We are requesting comments for 30 

days. All comments received within the 

comment period will be made part of 

the public record we maintain, will be 

available to the public for review, and 

will be considered before we take final 

action. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

James E. Link, 

Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration. 

[FR Doc. E7–7241 Filed 4–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–KD–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

Foreign Availability Procedures and 

Criteria 

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Department of Commerce. 

ACTION: Proposed information 

collection; comment request. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Commerce, as part of its continuing 

effort to reduce paperwork and 

respondent burden, invites the general 

public and other Federal agencies to 

take this opportunity to comment on 

proposed and/or continuing information 

collections, as required by the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Public Law 104–13 (44 U.S.C. 

3506(c)(2)(A)). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

submitted on or before June 18, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments 

to Diana Hynek, Departmental 

Paperwork Clearance Officer, 

Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 

14th and Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20230 (or via the 

Internet at dHynek@doc.gov). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

instrument(s) and instructions should 

be directed to Larry Hall, BIS ICB 

Liaison, Department of Commerce, 

Room 6622, 14th and Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Abstract 

This information is collected in order 

to respond to requests by Congress and 

industry to make foreign availability 

determinations. Exporters are urged to 

submit data regarding the foreign 

product’s technical characteristics and 

the availability of these products in 

foreign markets to determine if similar 

U.S. products should be decontrolled. 

II. Method of Collection 

Written submission. 

III. Data 

OMB Number: 0694–0004. 

Form Number: None. 

Type of Review: Regular submission. 

Affected Public: Individuals or 

households, business or other for-profit 

organizations and not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 2. 

Estimated Time per Response: 255 

hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 510. 

Estimated Total Annual Cost: $0. 

IV. Request for Comments 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden 

(including hours and cost) of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. In addition, the public is 

encouraged to provide suggestions on 

how to reduce and/or consolidate the 

current frequency of reporting. 

Comments submitted in response to 

this notice will be summarized and/or 

included in the request for OMB 

approval of this information collection; 

they will also become a matter of public 

record. 

Dated: April 11, 2007. 

Gwellnar Banks, 

Management Analyst, Office of the Chief 

Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. E7–7211 Filed 4–16–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DT–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Bureau of Industry and Security 

Special Comprehensive License 

AGENCY: Bureau of Industry and 

Security, Department of Commerce. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES