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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 26, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 38286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15285]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Commodity Credit Corporation

Notice of Change to the CCC Sugar Purchase and Exchange To 
Include Certificates of Quota Eligibility Issued Pursuant to the United 
States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and United States-Panama 
Trade Promotion Agreement

AGENCY: Commodity Credit Corporation.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) announces the intent to 
include Certificates of Quota Eligibility (CQEs) issued under the 
United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Colombia TPA) 
and the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (U.S.-Panama 
TPA) in the sugar purchase and exchange announced on June 18, 2013.

DATES: Effective date: June 26, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For current market conditions, 
eligibility, and criteria for evaluation information contact Ron Lord; 
telephone (202) 720-6939. For general exchange information contact 
Pamela McKenzie; telephone (202) 260-8906. Persons with disabilities 
who require alternative means for communications (Braille, large print, 
audio tape, etc.) should contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-
2600 (voice and TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: USDA's Sugar Program and the Domestic Sugar 
Market Conditions
    Under the Sugar Program, domestic sugar beet or sugarcane 
processors may borrow from CCC, pledging their sugar as collateral, and 
then satisfy their loans either by repaying the loan on or before loan 
maturity or by transferring the collateral to CCC immediately following 
loan maturity, also known as ``forfeiture'' of collateral (as specified 
in 7 CFR 1435.105). The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers the Sugar 
Program for CCC. Under section 156 of the Federal Agriculture 
Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, as amended (Pub. L. 104-127; 7 
U.S.C. 7272), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is required to 
operate the Sugar Program, to the maximum extent practicable, at no 
cost to the Federal government by avoiding forfeitures of sugar loan 
collateral to CCC.
    The sugarcane and sugar beet crops supplying the U.S. market are 
setting production records for fiscal year (FY) 2013. The FY 2013 
ending stocks-to-use ratio for sugar was projected at 19 percent in the 
June 2013 USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) 
report, well above its historic average, and the FY 2014 ending stocks-
to-use ratio for sugar was projected at over 22 percent. In the past, 
an ending stocks-to-use ratio at or above 18 percent has been strongly 
correlated with low U.S. sugar prices, and with forfeiture of sugar 
loan collateral to CCC. Record FY 2013 sugar production has caused 
domestic sugar prices to fall below the support level established by 
USDA's Sugar Program.
    A valid TPA CQE is required for the import of sugar into the United 
States under the sugar tariff-rate quotas established under the U.S.-
Colombia TPA and U.S.-Panama TPA, and thus each U.S.-Colombia TPA or 
U.S.-Panama TPA CQE represents a given quantity of import access.

CCC Sugar Purchase and Exchanges

    To reduce the cost of the Sugar Program to the Federal government, 
prior to the maturity of loans to sugar processors, CCC announced on 
June 18, 2013, its intent to purchase sugar from the U.S. domestic 
market and conduct voluntary exchanges of the purchased sugar in return 
for credits under the Refined Sugar Re-Export Program (78 FR 36508-
36510). This notice announces CCC's intent to also purchase sugar from 
the domestic market in order to conduct voluntary exchanges for 
privately held TPA CQEs issued under the U.S.-Colombia TPA and U.S.-
Panama TPA. Therefore CCC has amended Invitation No. 1 to Announcement 
KCPBS2, Purchase of Bulk Sugar, to include the purchase of sugar to 
exchange for privately held CQEs issued under the U.S.-Colombia TPA and 
U.S.-Panama TPA, in addition to credits under the Refined Sugar Re-
Export Program. The amended Invitation is available on the FSA 
Commodity Operations Web site at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=coop&topic=landing.
    These exchanges are expected to remove domestic sugar from the 
market at a lower cost to the Federal government than the cost of 
acquiring domestic sugar through loan collateral forfeiture.
    The exchange announcement specifies a minimum bid ratio of U.S.-
Colombia TPA CQEs and U.S.-Panama TPA CQEs per MT of CCC sugar, and 
will be made available at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=coop&topic=landing.

Eligibility

    To be eligible for the exchange, private sector exporters or 
traders must provide a valid original calendar year 2013 United States-
Colombia TPA CQE or United States-Panama TPA CQE to CCC.

Criteria for Evaluation of Tenders (Offers and Exchange Bids)

    CCC will combine the sugar offers and exchange bids that achieve 
the greatest cost reduction relative to the costs of later acquiring 
the domestic sugar through forfeiture. The specific formula that CCC 
will use to evaluate and accept offer and bid combinations is specified 
in the purchase and exchange invitations.

    Signed on June 20, 2013.
Juan M. Garcia,
Executive Vice President, Commodity Credit Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2013-15285 Filed 6-25-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-05-P
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