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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 55 / Wednesday, March 24, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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purchase. Lowering the maximum pressure requirement by 1 pound, from 14 pounds to 13 pounds for the Continental United States and Canada, will help ensure consumers in those areas consistently receive the product they prefer. International market and consumer research conducted for the Committee has demonstrated that the Mexican market is more receptive to a firmer pear, which led to the decision to leave the pressure at 14 pounds for early season shipments to Mexico.
In addition, removing the 8,800
minimum quantity exemption will ensure that even small shipments of early season Anjou pears conform to the maximum pressure requirements and that all product shipped during this period is of similar quality.
The Committee derived its recommendation to modify the handling regulation from lengthy discussions with industry members at multiple public meetings, from subcommittee input, and from research conducted using Committee funds.
This rule lowers the acceptable pressure, from 14 pounds to 13 pounds, of early season Anjou pear shipments destined for the Continental United States and Canada, and removes the minimum quantity exemption for all early season Anjou shipments. It is the Committees determination that this modification will increase consumer preference for Anjou pears in the fresh fruit market by delivering a better eating experience and will provide increased returns to handlers and growers.
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act RFA 5
U.S.C. 601612, the Agricultural Marketing Service AMS has considered the economic impact of this action on small entities. Accordingly, AMS has prepared this final regulatory flexibility analysis.
The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to such actions in order that small businesses will not be unduly or disproportionately burdened.
Marketing orders issued pursuant to the Act, and the rules issued thereunder, are unique in that they are brought about through group action of essentially small entities acting on their own behalf.
There are approximately 838 growers of pears for the fresh market in the regulated area and approximately 32
handlers of pears who are subject to regulation under the Order. Small agricultural producers are defined by the Small Business Administration SBA as those having annual receipts of
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less than $1,000,000, and small agricultural service firms have been defined as those whose annual receipts are less than $30,000,000 13 CFR
121.201.
According to the most recent data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service NASS, the national average producer price for non-Bartlett fresh pears for the 2017 marketing year the most current year for NASS pear data ranged from $748 to $788 per ton or $16.46 to $17.34 per 44-pound standard box. The Committee reported that for the same full year of records, total shipments of non-Bartlett pears for the fresh market from the production area were 11,875,202 boxes. Using the NASS
price range from the 2017 marketing year, the total 2017 farm gate value of the fresh, non-Bartlett pear crop could therefore be estimated to be between $195,465,825 and $205,916,003.
Dividing the crop value by the estimated number of growers 838 yields an estimated average receipt per producer of between $233,253 and $245,723, which is well below the SBA threshold for small producers.
USDA Market News reported a freight on board FOB average price including palletizing and cooling of $24.45 per 44-pound bag or equivalent of pears shipped in 2019. Multiplying this average FOB price by the Committee recorded total 2019 shipments of 13,811,500 44-pound bags of fresh pears results in an estimated gross value of fresh pear shipments of $337,691,175.
Dividing this figure by the number of handlers 32 yields estimated average annual handler receipts of $10,552,849, which is below the SBA threshold for small agricultural service firms.
Therefore, using the above data, the majority of producers and handlers of pears in the production area may be classified as small entities.
This final rule decreases from 14
pounds to 13 pounds, the maximum acceptable pressure for early season Anjou variety pears shipped throughout the Continental United States and to Canada, during the period August 15 to November 1. The maximum pressure for Anjou pear shipments to Mexico during this period remains unchanged at 14
pounds. In addition, this action removes the handling requirement exemption for early season Anjou pear shipments of 8,800 pounds or less. All other requirements in the Orders handling regulations remain unchanged.
Authority for this action is contained in 927.51.
This rule is expected to benefit the growers, handlers, and consumers of fresh pears. The Committee anticipates that this modification will lead to
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greater returns to handlers and growers by encouraging repeat consumption of fresh Anjou pears due to an improved eating experience.
Prior to arriving at its recommendation to modify the handling regulation, the Committee discussed various alternatives, including maintaining the current handling regulation, decreasing the acceptable pressure further, shortening the regulation period, and extending the requirement to shipments to Mexico.
After several failed motions and much deliberation, the Committee determined that the recommended modification was the most beneficial option for the industry and consumers of pears.
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35, the Orders information collection requirements have been previously approved by the OMB and assigned OMB No. 05810189, Fruit Crops. No changes in those requirements are necessary as a result of this action. Should any changes become necessary, they would be submitted to OMB for approval.
This rule will not impose any additional reporting or recordkeeping requirements on either small or large pear handlers. As with all Federal marketing order programs, reports and forms are periodically reviewed to reduce information requirements and duplication by industry and public sector agencies. USDA has not identified any relevant Federal rules that duplicate, overlap, or conflict with this final rule.
AMS is committed to complying with the E-Government Act, to promote the use of the internet and other information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen access to Government information and services, and for other purposes.
The Committees May 26, 2020, meeting was widely publicized throughout the pear industry. All interested persons were invited to attend the meeting and encouraged to participate in the deliberations on all issues. Like all Committee meetings, the meeting was a public meeting, and all entities, both large and small, were able to express their views on these issues.
A proposed rule concerning this action was published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2020 85 FR
66283. Copies of the proposal were provided by the Committee to its members and handlers. The proposed rule was made available through the internet by USDA and the Office of the Federal Register. A 60-day comment period ending December 18, 2020, was provided to allow interested persons to
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