This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

58370 

Vol. 70, No. 193 

Thursday, October 6, 2005 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Docket Number FV–05–304] 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Fresh Asparagus 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing 

Service (AMS) of the Department of 

Agriculture (USDA) is soliciting 

comments on its proposal to revise the 

United States Standards for Grades of 

Fresh Asparagus. At a 2003 meeting of 

the Fruit and Vegetable Industry 

Advisory Committee, AMS was asked to 

review all the fresh fruit and vegetable 

grade standards for usefulness in 

serving the industry. As a result, AMS 

has noted the current U.S. Grade 

standards do not have provisions for 

grading purple or white asparagus. The 

proposed revision will allow purple or 

white asparagus to be certified to a U.S. 

grade. 

DATES: Comments must be received by 

December 5, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments to 

the Standardization Section, Fresh 

Products Branch, Fruit and Vegetable 

Programs, Agricultural Marketing 

Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 

1661 South Building, Stop 0240, 

Washington, DC 20250–0240; Fax (202) 

720–8871; E-mail 

FPB.DocketClerk@usda.gov. Comments 

should make reference to the dates and 

page number of the issue of the Federal 

Register and will be made available for 

public inspection in the above office 

during regular business hours. The 

current United States Standards for 

Grades of Fresh Asparagus, along with 

the proposed changes, will be available 

either through the address cited above 

or by accessing the AMS Home Page on 

the Web at http://www.ams.usda.gov/ 

standards/stanfrfv.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cheri L. Emery, at the above address or 

call (202) 720–2185; E-mail 

Cheri.Emery@usda.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, quality, 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. The United 

States Standards for Grades of Fruits 

and Vegetables not connected with 

Federal Marketing Orders or U.S. Import 

Requirements, no longer appear in the 

Code of Federal Regulations, but are 

maintained by the USDA/AMS/Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs. 

AMS is proposing to revise the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Fresh Asparagus 

using the procedures that appear in part 

36, title 7 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (7 CFR part 36). 

Background 

At a meeting of the Fruit and 

Vegetable Industry Committee, AMS 

was asked to review all the fresh fruit 

and vegetable grade standards for 

usefulness in serving the industry. As a 

result, AMS has identified the U.S. 

Standards for Grades of Fresh Asparagus 

color requirement for possible updating. 

The color requirement only provides for 

the grading of green color asparagus and 

not purple or white asparagus. 

Prior to undertaking research and 

other work associated with a revision of 

the grade, AMS published a notice on 

March 29, 2005 in the Federal Register 

(70 FR 59) soliciting comments on the 

possible revision of the United States 

Standards for Grades of Fresh 

Asparagus. 

In response to the request for 

comments, AMS received three 

comments on the proposed revision. 

One comment was from an industry 

group supporting the proposal. The 

second comment was from a private 

individual that did not support the 

revision and was generally opposed to 

a federal grade standard. And the third 

comment was from another industry 

group supporting the development of 

standards for white and purple 

asparagus. However, the commenter 

believes that separate standards are 

needed, noting that any change to the 

current standards would compromise 

the fresh green asparagus marketing 

standards. We disagree that separate 

standards for white and purple 

asparagus are necessary and no change 

to the current green asparagus 

requirements are anticipated. The 

comments are available by accessing 

AMS’s Home Page on the Internet at: 

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

fvfpbdocketlist.htm. 

AMS believes that a revision to 

include purple and white requirements 

in the color section of the standards is 

warranted to facilitate the marketing of 

purple and white asparagus and 

improve the usefulness of the standards 

in better serving the industry. 

Additionally, AMS is eliminating the 

unclassified category. This section is 

being removed in all standards, when 

they are revised. This category is not a 

grade and only serves to show that no 

grade has been applied to a lot or 

shipment. 

The official grade of a lot or shipment 

of fresh asparagus covered by the 

standards is determined by the 

procedures set forth in the Regulations 

Governing Inspection, Certification, and 

Standards of Fresh Fruits, Vegetables 

and Other Products (Sec. 51.1 to 51.61). 

This notice provides a 60-day 

comment period for interested parties to 

comment on changes to the standards. 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

Dated: October 3, 2005. 

Lloyd C. Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–20091 Filed 10–5–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P