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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 120 / Friday, June 25, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Executive Order 12988
In addition, this rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform. It is not intended to have a retroactive effect. Section 524
of the 1996 Act 7 U.S.C. 7423 provides that it shall not affect or preempt any other Federal or State law authorizing promotion or research relating to an agricultural commodity.
Under section 519 of the 1996 Act 7
U.S.C. 7418, a person subject to an order issued under the Act may file a written petition with USDA stating that the order, any provision of the order, or any obligation imposed in connection with the order, is not established in accordance with the law, and request a modification of the order or an exemption from the order. Any petition filed challenging an order, any provision of an order, or any obligation imposed in connection with an order, shall be filed within two years after the effective date of an order, provision, or obligation subject to challenge in the petition. The petitioner will have the opportunity for a hearing on the petition. Thereafter, USDA will issue a ruling on the petition. The Act provides that the district court of the United States for any district in which the petitioner resides or conducts business shall have jurisdiction to review a final ruling on the petition, if the petitioner files a complaint for that purpose not later than 20 days after the date of the entry of USDAs final ruling.

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Background The Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Order Order took effect in November 2004 69 FR 59120, and assessment collection began in January 2005 for fresh mangos. The Order is administered by the National Mango Board Board with oversight by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Originally, the program was funded by assessments on first handlers and importers of fresh mangos, and was focused on maintaining and expanding existing markets and uses for fresh mangos through its research, promotion and information efforts.
Frozen mangos as a covered commodity was added to the Order on February 21, 2019 84 FR 5335, and a referendum was held in 2019 to determine whether the industry favored the inclusion of frozen mangos as a covered commodity under the Order. In the 2019 referendum, 52.5 percent of first handlers and importers of fresh and frozen mangos were in favor of the amendment to add frozen mangos to the Order. Since the vote passed by a small margin, the frozen mango industry
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asked the Board to conduct another referendum on whether frozen mangos should continue as a covered commodity under the Order.
The Order prescribes that every five years, the USDA conduct a referendum to determine if first handlers and importers of mangos favor the continuation of the Order. Such a referendum was required to be conducted in 2020. At the Boards September 2019 meeting, it was unanimously recommended to the USDA to add a second question to the continuance referendum ballot concerning frozen mangos as a covered commodity. USDA conducted a referendum from September 21 through October 9, 2020, among eligible first handlers and importers to 1 ascertain whether the continuance of the Order is favored by eligible first handlers and importers covered under the Order, and 2 ascertain whether the continuance of frozen mangos as a covered commodity in the Order is favored by eligible first handlers and importers including frozen mango importers covered under the Order. The results were announced on October 20, 2020, stating that 60
percent of mango first handlers and importers voting were in favor of continuing the Order. On the question as to whether to continue frozen mangos as a covered commodity in the Order, 42
percent voted to keep frozen mangos in the Order, 49 percent voted to eliminate frozen mangos and 9 percent did not vote on this question. Of those representing frozen mangos, 83 percent voted to eliminate frozen mangos as a covered commodity.
Section 522 of the 1996 Act 7 U.S.C.
7421 and 1206.72 of the Order 7 CFR
1206.72 provide that if the Secretary determines that provisions of the Order are not favored by persons voting in a referendum, the Secretary shall terminate those provisions. An interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2021, providing a 60-day comment period that ended April 26, 2021. In accordance with the 1996 Act and Order, this rule adopts the interim rule, with a few minor changes to sections 1206.34 and 1206.43. The interim final rule proposed removal of the provisions of frozen mangos as a covered commodity under the Order and the final rule is adopting these changes from the interim final rule without change. They include:
Removing definitions for frozen mangos and foreign processor of frozen mangos;
reducing the Boards membership from 21 to 18 by eliminating two importers of frozen mangos and one foreign processor of frozen mangos; removing assessment collection provisions for
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frozen mangos at a rate of $0.01 per pound and thereby eliminating assessments on frozen mango imports;
and removing the exemption of assessment for importers who import less than 200,000 pounds of frozen mangos annually. In addition, the interim final rule proposed clarifying and conforming changes to other provisions of the Order.
Sections 1206.34 and 1206.43 are being revised in this rule from the interim final rule for further clarification.
Order Provisions The interim rule set forth the following proposed changes that are being adopted without change. In accordance with 1206.72, the following changes are necessary to terminate and remove the provisions regarding frozen mangos from the Order.
Sections 1206.6 and 1206.9 which define the terms first handler and importer, respectively, were revised to add the reference that first handlers and importers, respectively, must receive or import 500,000 or more pounds of mangos; this volume was added for the purpose of clarity.
Section 1206.8, which defines the term foreign producers and foreign processor of frozen mangos or foreign processor, was revised to remove the definitions of foreign processor of frozen mangos or foreign processor because they are no longer covered under the Order. The definition for foreign producer will remain.
The definition of mangos in 1206.11 was revised to mean all fresh fruit of Mangifera indica L. of the family Anacardiaceae. The term frozen mangos was removed as it is no longer a covered commodity.
Section 1206.30, which establishes the Boards membership, was revised to reduce its size from 21 to 18 members due to the removal of three members, i.e., two importers of frozen mangos and one foreign processor. The three members have been removed from the Board. The remaining 18-member Board will be comprised of 8 importers, 1 first handler, 2 domestic producers, and 7
foreign producers. In addition, eligibility requirements for Board members from the frozen mango industry are removed, and only those eligibility requirements for the first handler and fresh mango importers remain. Lastly, the four Importer Districts that were unintentionally removed from the CFR when this section was amended, were restored to section 1206.30 as paragraphs b1
b4.

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