The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking comments on a proposal to terminate Marketing Order No. 922, which regulates the handling of apricots grown in designated counties in Washington State. The marketing order was established in 1957 but has been operating without handling requirements since 2014. If implemented, this proposed action would remove Marketing Order No. 922 from the Code of Federal Regulations and cease operations of the Washington Apricot Marketing Committee.
In 2014, USDA implemented a recommendation from the committee to indefinitely suspend the marketing order’s handling requirements to reduce industry expenses and increase returns to producers and handlers. On July 7, 2021, the committee unanimously voted to recommend USDA terminate the entire marketing order after determining the suspension of handling requirements had not adversely affected the marketing of Washington apricots. While considering the recommendation, USDA published a final rule on April 13, 2022, suspending the reporting and assessment collection requirements under the marketing order.
The proposed rule on terminating the marketing order and committee operations was published in the Federal Register on October 19, 2022. Written comments must be received by December 19, 2022.
Interested parties can post comments concerning the proposed termination at Regulations.gov. All comments submitted by the deadline will be made available for public review. USDA will consider all comments before making a final determination. Termination of the marketing order would become effective only after USDA provides a 60-day notice to Congress, as required by law.
More information about the marketing order is available on the 922 Washington Apricots webpage on the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) website. Information about federal marketing orders is available on AMS’s Marketing Orders and Agreements webpage or by contacting the Market Development Division at (202) 720-2491.
Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually. AMS’s oversight of fruit, vegetable and specialty crop marketing orders helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
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