Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 1, 2011 / Notices 31575 

The 2002 Farm Bill provides that the 

Board’s makeup will include three 

producers and three peanut industry 

representatives from States specified in 

each of the following producing regions: 

Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, and 

Florida); Southwest (Texas, Oklahoma, 

and New Mexico); and Virginia/Carolina 

(Virginia and North Carolina). 

The term ‘‘peanut industry 

representatives’’ includes, but is not 

limited to, representatives of shellers, 

manufacturers, buying points, and 

marketing associations and marketing 

cooperatives. The 2002 Farm Bill 

exempted the appointment of the Board 

from the requirements of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act. 

USDA invites individuals, 

organizations, and groups affiliated with 

the categories listed above to nominate 

individuals for membership on the 

Board. Nominees sought by this action 

would fill two positions in the 

Southeast region; two positions in the 

Southwest region; and two positions in 

the Virginia/North Carolina region, one 

of which is currently vacant. 

Nominees should complete a Peanut 

Standards Board Background 

Information form and submit it to Mrs. 

Clark at the address provided in the 

‘‘Addresses’’ section above. Copies of 

this form may be obtained at the 

Internet site http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

PeanutStandardsBoard, or from Mrs. 

Clark. USDA seeks a diverse group of 

members representing the peanut 

industry. 

Equal opportunity practices will be 

followed in all appointments to the 

Board in accordance with USDA 

policies. To ensure that the 

recommendations of the Board have 

taken into account the needs of the 

diverse groups within the peanut 

industry, membership shall include, to 

the extent practicable, individuals with 

demonstrated abilities to represent 

minorities, women, persons with 

disabilities, and limited resource 

agriculture producers. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 7958. 

Dated: May 24, 2011. 

Rayne Pegg, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–13499 Filed 5–31–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Document Number AMS: AMS–FV–08– 

0076] 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Frozen Onions 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) of the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting 

comments on its proposal to create new 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Frozen Onions. USDA has received 

additional industry comments from 

several discussion drafts. The grade 

standards would provide a common 

language for trade, a means of 

measuring value in the marketing of 

frozen onions, and provide guidance in 

the effective utilization of frozen onions. 

DATES: Comments must be submitted on 

or before August 1, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted to: Myron Betts, Processed 

Products Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., 

Washington, DC 20250; or by fax (202) 

690–1527; or via Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Comments should 

reference the date and page of this issue 

of the Federal Register. 

Please be advised that the identity of 

the individual or entities submitting the 

comments will be made public on the 

Internet via http://www.regulations.gov 

or http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

processedinspection. Any comments 

received, regarding these proposed 

standards also will be posted on these 

sites. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Contact Myron Betts, Processed 

Products Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Room 

0709, So. Building; STOP 0247, 

Washington, DC 20250. Phone (202) 

720–5021; Fax: (202) 690–1527. Copies 

of the proposed U.S. Standards for 

Grades of Frozen Onions are available 

on the Internet at http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/processedinspection 

or http://www.regulations.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

203(c) of the Agricultural Marketing Act 

of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1621–1627), as 

amended, directs and authorizes the 

Secretary of Agriculture ‘‘to develop and 

improve standards of quality, condition, 

quantity, grade and packaging and 

recommend and demonstrate such 

standards in order to encourage 

uniformity and consistency in 

commercial practices.’’ 

AMS is committed to carrying out this 

authority in a manner that facilitates the 

marketing of agricultural commodities 

and makes copies of official standards 

available upon request. Those United 

States standards for grades of processed 

fruits and vegetables no longer appear in 

the Code of Federal Regulations but are 

maintained by USDA/AMS/Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs at http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/ 

processedinspection. 

AMS is proposing to establish the 

U.S. Standards for Grades of Frozen 

Onions using the procedures that appear 

in part 36, Title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (7 CFR part 36). 

Background 

AMS received a petition from 

American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), 

requesting the development of new 

standards for frozen onions. The 

petitioners represent almost all of the 

processors of frozen onions in the 

United States. The petition provided 

information on style, sample size, and 

product description to develop the 

standards. 

AMS developed the grade standards 

for frozen onions to incorporate 

comments from AFFI members, 

published notices on the proposed grade 

standards in order to receive comments 

from interested parties (see 66 FR 

21116, 68 FR 11801, 68 FR 27010) as 

appropriate and circulated several 

discussion drafts between April 2007 

and June 2010. AMS received and 

evaluated samples of various styles of 

frozen onions to collect information on 

how to ascertain the grade of frozen 

onions. Comments from the trade 

association’s members were used to 

further develop the proposed standards. 

The comments referenced the style of 

whole onions and questioned the 

specific size ranges for whole peeled 

onions and the total allowance for peel 

in whole onions. Also the comments 

suggested that stem material, sprout 

material, and root material be included 

as major defects in the ‘‘core material’’ 

defect category. 

In addition, AMS met with members 

of AFFI at their annual meeting in 

February 2007 to discuss the comments. 

AFFI suggested that dark green units 

with dark green stripes across 50 

percent or more of the onion units 

would be considered a defect and under 

the style of whole onion units greater 

than 3⁄8 inch (10mm) or less than 3⁄4

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31576 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 105 / Wednesday, June 1, 2011 / Notices 

inch (20mm) be addressed. AFFI 

requested a change in the style 

designations for minced style, and a 

correction to the text. The members 

agreed with the proposed section 

concerning requirements for Styles, 

Type I, Whole onions and Type II, Pearl 

onions. The members did not agree with 

the proposed descriptions in 

requirements for whole onions and 

pearl onions for Styles: Type I, whole 

onions of 3⁄4 inch to 1–7/8 inches in 

diameter and Type II, pearl onions of 1⁄4

inch to 7⁄8 inch in diameter. Also, the 

members did not agree with the 

proposed section concerning Acceptable 

Quality Levels (AQLs) for quality 

defects and submitted examples of 

specifications from buyers. The 

members expressed concern because 

defects were defined by weight, not by 

count. Larger units would be allowed a 

smaller number of defects and smaller 

units would be allowed a large number 

of defects. The members stated that the 

definitions of ‘‘good appearance’’ and 

‘‘reasonably good appearance’’ were too 

similar. 

AFFI recommended that the product 

description include a heat treatment and 

suggested that AMS consider a 

requirement that onions be blanched. 

AFFI members requested that the 

product description be limited to 

individually quick frozen onions. There 

were also concerns that microbiological 

requirements, storage temperatures, 

shelf life requirements, and limits for 

chemical and pesticide residues were 

not addressed in the proposed frozen 

onion grade standards. 

AMS incorporated these comments to 

make further changes to the proposed 

grade standards in the discussion draft. 

However, in June 2010 AMS received 

additional feedback from AFFI 

members. These AFFI members 

indicated that this and other frozen 

vegetable grade standards did not 

include requirements for shelf-life, 

storage temperature, microbiological, or 

chemical pesticide residue. 

Nonetheless, commodities covered by 

U.S. grade standards must comply with 

all of the regulatory food safety 

requirements of the Food and Drug 

Administration, the Environmental 

Protection Agency, and applicable state 

and local regulations. 

The proposed standards for frozen 

onions would continue to use the 

standard format for U.S. standards for 

grades using ‘‘individual attributes.’’ 

Specifically, the standards would 

provide for the ‘‘individual attribute’’ 

procedure for product grading with 

sample sizes, tolerances, and acceptance 

numbers of allowable defects with 

single letter grade designation. Also, the 

standards would define the term ‘‘frozen 

onions’’ and establish ‘‘strips,’’ ‘‘diced,’’ 

‘‘whole,’’ ‘‘chopped,’’ and ‘‘other’’ as the 

style designations. The proposal also 

would define quality factors, AQLs, and 

tolerances for defects that affect frozen 

onions and determine sample unit sizes 

for this commodity. These grade 

standards would establish the grade 

levels ‘‘A,’’ ‘‘B,’’ and ‘‘Substandard.’’ The 

AQLs, tolerances, and acceptance 

numbers for each quality factor as 

defined for each grade level would also 

be established. 

The grade of a sample unit of frozen 

onions would be ascertained 

considering the factors of varietal 

characteristics, flavor and odor, 

appearance, color, defects, absence of 

grit or dirt, and character. 

These grade standards would provide 

a common language for trade, a means 

of measuring value in the marketing of 

frozen onions, and provide guidance in 

the effective utilization of frozen onions. 

The official grade of a lot of frozen 

onions covered by these standards 

would be determined by the procedures 

set forth in the Regulations Governing 

Inspection and Certification of 

Processed Products Thereof, and Certain 

Other Processed Foods Products (§ 52.1 

to 52.83). 

AMS is publishing this notice with a 

sixty-day comment period that will 

provide a sufficient amount of time for 

interested persons to comments on the 

proposed new standards for frozen 

onions. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

Dated: May 24, 2011. 

Rayne Pegg, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 2011–13501 Filed 5–31–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2011–0035] 

Notice of Request for Extension of 

Approval of an Information Collection; 

Importation of Clementines From 

Spain 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Extension of approval of an 

information collection; comment 

request. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this 

notice announces the Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service’s intention to 

request an extension of approval of an 

information collection associated with 

regulations for the importation of 

clementines from Spain. 

DATES: We will consider all comments 

that we receive on or before August 1, 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/

component/main?main=DocketDetail&

d=APHIS-2011-0035 to submit or view 

comments and to view supporting and 

related materials available 

electronically. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send one copy of your comment 

to Docket No. APHIS–2011–0035, 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, 

PPD, APHIS, Station 3A–03.8, 4700 

River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1238. Please state that your 

comment refers to Docket No. APHIS– 

2011–0035. 

Reading Room: You may read any 

comments that we receive on this 

docket in our reading room. The reading 

room 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) 690–2817 before 

coming. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about APHIS and its 

programs is available on the Internet at 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on regulations for the 

importation of clementines from Spain, 

contact Mr. William Wesela, Staff 

Officer, Preclearance, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 

River Road Unit 60, Riverdale, MD 

20737–1236; (301) 734–5718. For copies 

of more detailed information on the 

information collection, contact Mrs. 

Celeste Sickles, APHIS’ Information 

Collection Coordinator, at (301) 851– 

2908. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title: 

Importation of Clementines From Spain. 

OMB Number: 0579–0203. 

Type of Request: Extension of an 

approval of an information collection. 

Abstract: The Plant Protection Act 

(PPA, 7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.) authorizes 

the Secretary of Agriculture to restrict 

the importation, entry, or interstate 

movement of plants, plant products, and 

other articles to prevent the 

introduction of plant pests, including 

fruit flies, into the United States or their 

dissemination within the United States. 

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