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[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 19414-19415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10458]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 29

[Docket No. TB-97-17]

Tobacco Inspection--Growers Referendum

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of referendum.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that a referendum will be conducted by 
mail during the period of April 27-May 1, 1998, for producers of flue-
cured tobacco who sell their tobacco at auction in Tabor City-
Whiteville, North Carolina, and Loris, South Carolina, to determine 
producer approval of the designation of the Tabor City-Whiteville and 
Loris tobacco markets as one consolidated auction market.

DATES: The referendum will be held April 27-May 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Coats, Associate Deputy 
Administrator, Tobacco Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, United 
States Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 96456, Washington, D.C. 
20090-6456; telephone number (202) 205-0508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given of a mail referendum 
on the designation of a consolidated auction market at Tabor City-
Whiteville, North Carolina, and Loris, South Carolina. Tabor City-
Whiteville, North Carolina, was designated on June 5, 1997, (7 CFR 
29.8001) as flue-cured tobacco auction market and Loris, South 
Carolina, was designated on August 16, 1941, under the Tobacco 
Inspection Act (7 U.S.C. 511 et seq.). Under this Act those markets 
have been receiving mandatory grading services from USDA.
    On September 11, 1997, an application was made to the Secretary of 
Agriculture to consolidate the designated markets of Tabor City-
Whiteville, North Carolina, and Loris, South Carolina. The application, 
filed by warehouse operators on those markets, was made pursuant to the 
regulations promulgated under the Tobacco Inspection Act (7 CFR Part 
29.1-29.3). On November 5, 1997, a public hearing was held in Tabor 
City, North Carolina, pursuant to the regulations. A Review Committee, 
established pursuant to Sec. 29.3(h) of the regulations 7 CFR 29.3(h), 
has reviewed and considered the application, the testimony presented at 
the hearing, the exhibits received in evidence, and other

[[Page 19415]]

available information. The Committee recommended to the Secretary that 
the application be granted and the Secretary approved the application 
on March 16, 1998.
    Before a new market can be officially designated, a referendum must 
be held to determine that a two-thirds majority of producers favor the 
designation. It is hereby determined that the referendum will be held 
by mail during the period of April 27-May 1, 1998. The purpose of the 
referendum is to determine whether farmers who sold their tobacco on 
the designated markets at Tabor City-Whiteville and Loris are in favor 
of, or opposed to, the designation of the consolidated market for the 
1998 and succeeding crop years. Accordingly, if a two-thirds majority 
of those tobacco producers voting in the referendum favor the 
consolidation, a new market will be designated as and will be called 
Tabor City-Whiteville-Loris.
    To be eligible to vote in the referendum a tobacco producer must 
have sold flue-cured tobacco on either the Tabor City-Whiteville, North 
Carolina, or Loris, South Carolina, auction markets during the 1997 
marketing season. Any farmer who believes he or she is eligible to vote 
in the referendum but has not received a mail ballot by April 27, 1998, 
should immediately contact William Coats at (202) 205-0508.
    The referendum will be held in accordance with the provisions for 
referenda of the Tobacco Inspection Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 511d) and 
the regulations for such referendum set forth in 7 CFR 29.74.

    Dated: April 15, 1998.
Enrique E. Figueroa,
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 98-10458 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P
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