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47541

Rules and Regulations
Federal Register Vol. 86, No. 163
Thursday, August 26, 2021

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.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 1205
Doc. AMSCN210057

Cotton Board Rules and Regulations:
Adjusting Supplemental Assessment on Imports 2020 Amendments Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
AGENCY:

The Agricultural Marketing Service AMS is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations, decreasing the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. This amendment is required each year to ensure that assessments collected on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products will be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton. In addition, AMS is updating the Harmonized Tariff Schedule HTS
statistical reporting numbers that were amended since the last assessment adjustment in 2020.
DATES: This direct rule is effective October 25, 2021, without further action or notice, unless significant adverse comment is received by September 27, 2021. If significant adverse comment is received, AMS will publish a timely withdrawal of the amendment in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted to the addresses specified below. All comments will be made available to the public. Please do not include personally identifiable information such as name, address, or other contact information or confidential business information that you do not want publicly disclosed. All comments may be posted on the internet and can be retrieved by most internet
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SUMMARY:

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search engines. Comments may be submitted anonymously.
Comments, identified by AMSCN
210057, may be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http
www.regulations.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting comments.
In addition, comments may be submitted by mail or hand delivery to Cotton Research and Promotion, Cotton and Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 100
Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406.
Comments should be submitted in triplicate. All comments received will be made available for public inspection at Cotton and Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406. A
copy of this document may be found at:
www.regulations.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Shethir M. Riva, Director, Research and Promotion, Cotton and Tobacco Program, AMS, USDA, 100 Riverside Parkway, Suite 101, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406, telephone 540 361
2726, facsimile 540 3611199, or email at CottonRP@usda.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Background Amendments to the Cotton Research and Promotion Act 7 U.S.C. 21012118
Act were enacted by Congress under Subtitle G of Title XIX of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 Pub. L. 101624, 104 Stat.
3909, November 28, 1990. These amendments contained two provisions that authorized changes in funding procedures for the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. These provisions provided for: 1 The assessment of imported cotton and cotton products;
and 2 termination of refunds to cotton producers. Prior to the 1990
amendments to the Act, producers could request assessment refunds.
As amended, the Cotton Research and Promotion Order 7 CFR part 1205
Order was approved by producers and importers voting in a referendum held July 1726, 1991, and the amended Order was published in the Federal Register on December 10, 1991, 56 FR
64470. A proposed rule implementing the amended Order was published in the Federal Register on December 17, 1991, 56 FR 65450. Implementing rules were published on July 1 and 2,
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1992, 57 FR 29181 and 57 FR 29431, respectively.
This direct final rule amends the value assigned to imported cotton in the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations 7
CFR 1205.510b2 that is used to determine the Cotton Research and Promotion assessment on imported cotton and cotton products. The total value of assessment levied on cotton imports is the sum of two parts. The first part of the assessment is based on the weight of cotton importedlevied at a rate of $1 per bale of cotton, which is equivalent to 500 pounds, or $1 per 226.8 kilograms of cotton. The second part of the import assessment referred to as the supplemental assessment is based on the value of imported cotton lint or the cotton contained in imported cotton productslevied at a rate of fivetenths of one percent of the value of domestically produced cotton.
Section 1205.510b2 of the Cotton Research and Promotion Rules and Regulations provides for assigning the calendar-year weighted-average price received by U.S. farmers for Upland cotton to represent the value of imported cotton. This is so that the assessment on domestically produced cotton and the assessment on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products is the same. The source for the average price statistic is Agricultural Prices, a publication of the National Agricultural Statistics Service NASS of the Department of Agriculture. Use of the weightedaverage price figure in the calculation of supplemental assessments on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products will yield an assessment that is the same as assessments paid on domestically produced cotton.
The current value of imported cotton as published in 2020 in the Federal Register 85 FR 62545 for the purpose of calculating assessments on imported cotton is $0.011562 per kilogram. Using the average weighted price received by U.S. farmers for Upland cotton for the calendar year 2020, this direct final rule amends the new value of imported cotton to $0.011136 per kilogram to reflect the price received by U.S.
farmers for Upland cotton during 2020.
An example of the complete assessment formula and how the figures are obtained is as follows:
One bale is equal to 500 pounds.

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