This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

32389 

Vol. 74, No. 129 

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

7 CFR Part 52 

[Doc. No. AMS–FV–08–0075; FV–08–330] 

RIN 0581–AC89 

Country of Origin Labeling of Packed 

Honey 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for comments. 

SUMMARY: This interim final rule would 

establish a new regulation addressing 

country of origin labeling for packed 

honey bearing any official USDA mark 

or statement and would add a new 

cause for debarment from inspection 

and certification service for honey. The 

rule is necessary because section 10402 

of the Food, Conservation and Energy 

Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) amended 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 

to require country of origin labeling for 

honey if it contains official USDA grade 

marks or statements. The regulations 

governing inspection and certification 

would be amended to include a 

provision for country of origin labeling 

requirements for packed honey and for 

debarment of services if the country of 

origin labeling requirements are not met 

for packages of honey containing official 

USDA grade marks or statements. 

DATES: This interim final rule is 

effective on October 6, 2009. Comments 

must be submitted on or before 

September 8, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments via the 

Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Comments submitted by mail or courier 

must be sent in duplicate to the Chere 

L. Shorter, Processed Products Branch, 

Fruit and Vegetable Programs, 

Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, STOP 0247, 

Washington, DC 20250–0247, fax (202) 

690–1087, or e-mail 

Chere.Shorter@ams.usda.gov. 

Comments should make reference to the 

date and page number of this issue of 

the Federal Register and will be made 

available for public inspection in the 

above office during regular business 

hours and on the Internet at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or http:// 

www.ams.usda.gov/ 

processedinspection. All comments 

received will be posted without change, 

including any personal information 

provided. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Chere L. Shorter at the above address, 

call (202) 720–4693, or e-mail 

Chere.Shorter@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

10402 of the 2008 Farm Bill (Pub. L. 

110–246) amended section 1622(h) of 

the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, 

(7 U.S.C. 1621–1627, 1635–1638d (Act)), 

to require that all packed honey bearing 

any official USDA mark or statement 

also bear ‘‘legibly and permanently in 

close proximity (such as on the same 

side(s) or surface(s)) to the certificate, 

mark, or statement, and in at least a 

comparable size, the [country or] 

countries of origin of the lot or container 

of honey, preceded by the words 

‘Product of’ or other words of similar 

meaning.’’ Section 10402 also 

establishes that a violation of the 

labeling requirements may be deemed 

by the Secretary of Agriculture to be 

sufficient cause for debarment from the 

benefits of the Act, only with respect to 

honey, and that the honey amendments 

shall take effect one year after the date 

of enactment of the 2008 Farm Bill, 

which is June 18, 2009. 

The Act authorizes official inspection, 

grading, and certification for processed 

fruits, vegetables, and processed 

products made from them. This 

amendment to the Act requires the 

amendment of the regulations in 7 CFR 

part 52, which provide for official 

inspection and certification services 

with respect to processed fruit, 

vegetables, and miscellaneous products 

and the fees charged for such services. 

Section 52.53 describes and illustrates 

the use of approved certification marks. 

Section 52.54 lists the acts or practices 

that may cause debarment by the 

Administrator of any person from any 

benefits of the Act for a specified period 

of time. These include: (1) Fraud or 

misrepresentation in filing an 

application; submission of samples; use 

of an inspection report or certificate; use 

of the words ‘‘Packed under continuous 

inspection of the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture,’’ any legend signifying that 

the product has been officially 

inspected, any statement of grade or 

similar words; use of a facsimile form; 

(2) willful violations of the regulations; 

or (3) interfering with an inspector, 

inspector’s aid, or licensed sampler. 

Pursuant to the amendment of the Act 

by the 2008 Farm Bill, section 52.54 will 

be amended to add a new paragraph 

providing for debarment of services if 

the country of origin labeling 

requirements are not met for honey. 

Executive Order 12988 

This interim final rule has been 

reviewed under Executive Order 12988, 

Civil Justice Reform. This rule is not 

intended to have a retroactive effect and 

does not preempt any State or local 

laws, regulations, or policies unless they 

present an irreconcilable conflict with 

this rule. There are no administrative 

procedures which must be exhausted 

prior to any judicial challenge to the 

provisions of this rule. 

Executive Order 12866 

This rule has been determined to be 

not significant for purposes of Executive 

Order 12866 and, therefore, has not 

been reviewed by the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act and 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601–612, the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

has prepared a regulatory flexibility 

analysis. AMS, however, does not 

currently have all of the data necessary 

for a comprehensive analysis of the 

effects of this interim final rule on small 

entities. Therefore, AMS welcomes 

public comment that would enable it to 

more fully consider impacts of the rule, 

especially information on the use of 

official USDA grade marks on honey 

and any costs associated with 

reconfiguring product labeling. 

AMS estimates that there are between 

139,600 and 212,000 beekeepers in the 

United States. The vast majority of 

beekeepers (95 percent) are hobbyists 

with fewer than 25 hives, or bee 

colonies, and about 4 percent are partVerDate Nov<24>2008 16:30 Jul 07, 2009 Jkt 217001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4700 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\08JYR1.SGM 08JYR1

sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with RULES
32390 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 8, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 

time beekeepers who keep from 25 to 

299 hives. Together, hobbyists and parttime beekeepers account for about 50 

percent of bee colonies and about 40 

percent of honey produced. Commercial 

beekeepers are those with 300 or more 

bee colonies. There are approximately 

1,600 commercial beekeeping 

operations in the United States, which 

produce about 60 percent of the nation’s 

honey. 

AMS believes that there are 

approximately 2,000 producers of 

honey, 45 handlers/packers, and 659 

importers of honey and honey products. 

The Small Business Administration [13 

CFR 121.201] defines small agricultural 

producers as those having annual 

receipts of $750,000 or less annually 

and small agricultural service firms as 

those having annual receipts of $7 

million or less. Using these criteria, 

most producers and handlers/packers 

would be considered small businesses, 

while most importers would not. 

National Agricultural Statistics 

Service (NASS) data report that U.S. 

production of honey, from producers 

with five or more colonies, totaled less 

than 155 million pounds in 2006, 

representing a decrease of almost 16 

percent from 2004. The number of U.S. 

bee colonies producing honey in 2007 

was 2.4 million (based on beekeepers 

who manage five or more colonies). 

In 2007, more than 148 million 

pounds of honey were produced in the 

United States. The average annual yield 

per colony was 60.8 pounds of honey. 

The average producer price per pound 

was $1.03. The 2007 honey crop was 

valued at more than $153 million. In 

2006, the honey price was $1.04, which 

was up 14 percent from $0.92 in 2005. 

The top six honey producing States in 

2006 were North Dakota, California, 

Florida, South Dakota, Montana, and 

Minnesota. NASS reported the value of 

honey sold from these six states in 2006 

was $84,583,000 and the volume 

produced was 90,433,000 pounds. From 

1980–2002, U.S. honey production 

averaged around 200 million pounds 

per year, with U.S. commercial 

beekeepers producing more than 220 

million pounds of honey as recently as 

2000. 

Based on the reports by U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection (Customs), 

seventeen countries produced more 

than 93 percent of the honey imported 

into the U.S. In 2005, five of these 

countries produced almost 79 percent of 

the total honey imported into the United 

States. These countries and their share 

of the imports are China (27 percent), 

Argentina (21 percent), Vietnam (13 

percent), Canada (10 percent), and India 

(8 percent). Imports accounted for 69 

percent of U.S. consumption in 2006, an 

increase of 18 percent, up from 51 

percent since 2002. 

The United States is one of the 

world’s largest markets for industrial 

honey. This sector accounts for 

approximately 45 percent of total 

domestic consumption. The primary 

users of industrial honey are bakery, 

health food, and cereal manufacturers. 

Other users such as the food service 

industry account for another 10 percent 

of domestic consumption. Individual 

consumers who purchase small amounts 

of honey for personal use also 

significantly contribute to overall 

consumption in the United States. 

Consumption in the United States is 

about 275 million pounds. 

USDA grades for honey are not 

mandatory, but beekeepers, handlers/ 

packers labeling honey as a particular 

grade are responsible for the accuracy of 

the label. The U.S. Standards for Grades 

of Honey are located on the AMS Web 

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

processedinspection. 

The Act authorizes the inspection, 

certification, and identification of class, 

quality, quantity, and condition of 

agricultural commodities. Under the 

Act, no person is required to use the 

services. 

The 2008 Farm Bill amended the Act 

to require that packaged honey bearing 

a grade mark or statement, continuous 

inspection mark or statement, sampling 

mark or statement, or any combination 

of marks or statements of the 

Department of Agriculture, must also 

bear the one or more names of the 

countries of origin of the lot or container 

of honey legibly and permanently in 

close proximity to and at least in 

comparable size to the mark or 

statement. 

Under the existing regulations 

governing the inspection and grading of 

processed fruits, vegetables, and 

miscellaneous products, section 52.53 

provides for the use of approved 

identification marks and paragraph (h) 

describes or lists prohibited uses of 

approved identification. Section 

52.53(h) provides that, except for 

officially inspected or otherwise 

approved products, no label or 

advertising material used upon, or in 

conjunction with, a processed product 

shall bear a brand name, trademark, 

product name, company name, or any 

other descriptive material as it relates or 

alludes to any official U.S. Department 

of Agriculture certificate of quality or 

loading, grade mark, grade statement 

(except honey and maple syrup which 

may bear such grade mark or statement), 

continuous inspection mark, continuous 

inspection statement, sampling mark or 

sampling statement or combinations of 

one or more of the above. Therefore, 

honey and maple syrup may bear 

official USDA grade marks without 

official inspection. 

This rule would apply to domestic as 

well as foreign sources of honey. Under 

this rule, any honey that has a grade 

mark or official U.S. grade mark would 

have to include in its label the country 

of origin in letters at least the same size 

and in close proximity to the grade 

mark. For example, if foreign or 

domestic honey were labeled Grade A or 

U.S. Grade A, then it would have to 

identify its country or countries of 

origin. Conversely, if the honey is not 

officially grade labeled, the country of 

origin labeling is not necessary whether 

the honey is domestic or foreign. 

AMS believes that under current 

industry labeling practices, packages of 

honey that include the official U.S. 

grade marks, in most cases, also include 

country of origin labeling. However, the 

Act requires that all honey bearing any 

official USDA mark or statement also 

bear legibly and permanently in close 

proximity (such as on the same side(s) 

or surface(s)) to the certificate, mark, or 

statement, and in at least a comparable 

size, the country or countries of origin 

of the lot or container of honey, 

preceded by the words ‘‘Product of’’ or 

other words of similar meaning. AMS is 

interested in any comments from 

producers, handlers, importers, or other 

interested persons concerning the cost, 

if any, associated with reconfiguring the 

labeling of honey in accordance with 

this rule. 

Because honey does not require 

official inspection in order to carry 

official USDA grade marks and since 

there are no existing programs that 

require the official inspection and 

certification of honey, AMS believes 

that there will be little, if any, impact on 

the honey industry or small entities. 

Further, AMS believes that product 

labeling changes normally involve 

reconfiguring labeling without 

substantial costs and without having to 

purchase new equipment. 

With regard to alternatives to this 

rule, section 10402 of the 2008 Farm 

Bill amends the Act, which requires 

AMS to amend its regulations. 

Enforcement will be handled by AMS 

if it receives complaints. All complaints 

will be turned over to our Compliance 

and Analysis Program (Compliance) 

who will investigate the alleged 

violation. Compliance would then 

determine the validity of the complaint, 

and appropriate action would be taken. 

Further, it is reasonable to allow time 

for packaged honey bearing any official 

USDA mark or statement already in the 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 129 / Wednesday, July 8, 2009 / Rules and Regulations 32391 

1To view the proposed rule and the comments 

we received, go to http://www.regulations.gov/

fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&

d=APHIS-2006-0137. 

chain of commerce to clear the system 

and allow the honey industry time to 

reconfigure labels as appropriate. A 90- 

day period is provided for that purpose. 

The Agency has identified some 

Federal rules that may be viewed to 

duplicate or overlap with this rule. 

Under pre-existing Federal laws and 

regulations, country of origin labeling is 

required. 

Such requirements are enforced by 

the U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

(CBP) as authorized by the Tariff Act of 

1930 and CBP regulations (19 U.S.C. 

1304(a) and 19 CFR Part 134). This law 

requires that every imported item must 

be conspicuously and indelibly marked 

in English to indicate to the ‘‘ultimate 

purchaser’’ its country of origin. 

Additionally, repackers are required 

by CBP to mark containers of 

repackaged imports with the English 

name of the country of origin. In the 

event that further reprocessing or 

material is added to the article in 

another country and results in a 

‘‘substantial transformation’’ of the 

product, the other country becomes the 

country of origin within the meaning of 

CBP’s labeling requirements, 19 CFR 

134.1(b) and 134.11. 

AMS has reviewed this rule under the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 

3501–3520, and has determined that 

there are no additional information 

collection requirements imposed by this 

rule. 

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is found 

and determined upon good cause that it 

is impracticable, unnecessary, and 

contrary to the public interest to give 

preliminary notice prior to putting this 

rule into effect because: (1) This rule has 

to be implemented because of an 

amendment by the Farm Bill to the Act 

and has an effective date of October 6, 

2009; and (2) this rule provides a 60-day 

comment period and any comments 

received will be considered prior to 

finalization of this rule. 

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 52 

Food grades and standards, Food 

labeling, Honey, Miscellaneous 

products, Debarment of services, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Approved identification, 

Country of origin labeling, and 

Prohibited uses of approved 

identification. 

■ For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 7 CFR part 52 is amended as 

follows: 

PART 52—PROCESSED FRUITS AND 

VEGETABLES, PROCESSED 

PRODUCTS THEREOF, AND CERTAIN 

OTHER PROCESSED FOOD 

PRODUCTS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621–1627. 

■ 2. In part 52, § 52.54 is amended by 

adding paragraph (a)(4) to read as 

follows: 

§ 52.54 Debarment of service. 

(a) * * * 

(4) Country of origin labeling for 

packed honey. (i) The use of a label or 

advertising material on, or in 

conjunction with, packaged honey that 

bears any official certificate of quality, 

grade mark or statement, continuous 

inspection mark or statement, sampling 

mark or statement, or any combination 

of the certificates, marks, or statements 

of the Department of Agriculture is 

hereby prohibited unless there appears 

legibly and permanently in close 

proximity (such as on the same side(s) 

or surface(s)) to the certificate, mark, or 

statement, and in at least a comparable 

size, the one or more names of the one 

or more countries of origin of the lot or 

container of honey, preceded by the 

words ‘Product of’ or other words of 

similar meaning. 

(ii) A violation of the requirements of 

this section may be deemed by the 

Secretary to be sufficient cause for 

debarment from the benefits of the 

regulations governing inspection and 

certification only with respect to honey. 

Dated: June 30, 2009. 

Robert C. Keeney, 

Acting Associate Administrator, Agricultural 

Marketing Service. 

[FR Doc. E9–16029 Filed 7–7–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

7 CFR Part 354 

[Docket No. APHIS–2006–0137] 

RIN 0579–AC22 

User Fees; Export Certification for 

Plants and Plant Products 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: We are amending the user fee 

regulations by adjusting the fees charged 

for export certification of plants and 

plant products. We are increasing these 

user fees for fiscal years 2010 through 

2012 to reflect the anticipated costs 

associated with providing these services 

during each year. We are also adding a 

new user fee for Federal export 

certificates for plants and plant products 

that an exporter obtains from a State or 

county cooperator in order to recover 

our costs associated with that service. 

Finally, we are making several 

nonsubstantive changes to the 

regulations for clarity. These changes 

will enable us to properly recover the 

costs of providing export certification 

services for plants and plant products. 

DATES: Effective Date: October 1, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information concerning program 

operations, contact Mr. Marcus 

McElvaine, Senior Export Specialist, 

Phytosanitary Issues Management, PPQ, 

APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 140, 

Riverdale, MD 20737–1236; (301) 734– 

8414. For information concerning rate 

development, contact Mrs. Kris Caraher, 

User Fee Section, Financial Services 

Branch, Financial Management 

Division, MRPBS, APHIS, 4700 River 

Road Unit 55, Riverdale, MD 20737– 

1232; (301) 734–0882. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On June 12, 2007, we published in the 

Federal Register (72 FR 32223–32230, 

Docket No. APHIS–2006–0137) a 

proposal 1 to amend the user fee 

regulations in 7 CFR 354.3 by adjusting 

the fees charged for export certification 

of plants and plant products. We 

proposed to increase these user fees for 

fiscal years (FYs) 2007 through 2012 to 

reflect the anticipated costs associated 

with providing these services during 

each year. We also proposed to add a 

new user fee for Federal export 

certificates for plants and plant products 

that an exporter obtains from a State or 

county cooperator in order to recover 

our costs associated with that service 

and to make some additional 

nonsubstantive changes to the 

regulations for greater clarity. The 

proposed changes were intended to 

enable us to properly recover the costs 

of providing export certification services 

for plants and plant products. 

We solicited comments concerning 

our proposal for 60 days ending August 

13, 2007. We received 75 comments by 

that date. They were from producers, 

exporters, research institutions, relief 

agencies, and representatives of State 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with RULES