19168 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 73 / Tuesday, April 17, 2007 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration 

United States Standards for Beans 

AGENCY: Grain Inspection, Packers and 

Stockyards Administration, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; request for public 

comment. 

SUMMARY: We plan to revise the U.S. 

standards for Beans to provide 

applicants for service with an optional 

grade designation for bean certification; 

and remove the requirements that the 

percentage of high moisture and, in the 

case of Mixed beans, 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 Bean 

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 Bean 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-bi. 

Optional Grade Designation and 

Certification Procedures 

We work closely with the National 

Dry Bean Council (NDBC) and others in 

the bean industry to examine the 

effectiveness of the U.S. standards for 

Beans in today’s marketing 

environment. It appears that the current 

standards continue to meet consumer/ 

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 

bean industry, as well. 

Currently, inspectors certify beans 

offered for inspection as a specific 

quality (U.S. grade) for example, U.S. 

No. 2 Pinto Beans. 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 beans for shipment 

that the supply of a particular grade of 

bean 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 beans of a better 

quality. However, current inspection 

procedures do not allow the flexibility 

to describe or certify superior quality 

beans as being of a lower quality. If the 

lot presented for inspection is not 

uniform in quality for the declared 

grade, the inspector certifies each 

portion separately according to quality. 

That is, if a consignment consists of 

both U.S. No. 1 and 2 Pinto beans, 

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 beans. Under such an 

approach, beans 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, Pinto Beans). 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 bean 

industry with the rice and grain 

industries, provide sellers with the 

flexibility to ship beans of better quality, 

and provide buyers with the desirable 

option of receiving better quality. 

High Moisture and Mixed Beans 

We also plan to remove the 

requirements that the percentage of high 

moisture and, in the case of Mixed 

beans, the percentage of each class in 

the mixture be shown on the grade-line. 

The special grade designation ‘‘High 

moisture’’ is applicable to all classes of 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
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