7 CFR Chapter VI - NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing the availability of an informational webinar regarding the proposed National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS or standard). The proposed standard would require food manufacturers and other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about bioengineered food and bioengineered food ingredients. The pre-recorded webinar will provide an overview of the background, provisions, and potential impacts of the proposed standard. Establishment and implementation of the new standard is required by recent amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued regulatory guidance to agencies to establish requirements for Federal financial assistance applicants, recipients, and subrecipients that are necessary for the implementation of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (the Transparency Act). Since FY 2011, NRCS included the requirements identified in each of the NRCS conservation program regulations that involve an award of Federal financial assistance. Section 766 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 amended the Food Security Act of 1985 to exempt producers and landowners participating in NRCS conservation programs from the Transparency Act regulations. Therefore, NRCS is removing specific reference to the Transparency Act regulations in its conservation program regulations where such requirements affect its conservation program agreements with producers and landowners.

This rule amends the general regulations for Federal fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop marketing agreements and marketing orders (orders) and allows such programs to conduct meetings and vote using electronic means of communication.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) is amending its regulations regarding its Policy on Audits to incorporate 2011 revisions to the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the clarified audit standards issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 2011, and Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, Subpart F, Audit Requirements, issued by the Office of Management and Budget on December 26, 2013, and adopted by USDA on December 26, 2014. RUS is also expanding and clarifying its regulations to: include grant recipients, amend its peer review requirements, amend its reporting requirements, expand the options for the electronic filing of audits, and clarify a number of existing audit requirements, and is amending the title to reflect this change.

A recent amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 requires the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to establish the national mandatory bioengineered (BE) food disclosure standard. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is proposing a new rule that would require food manufacturers and other entities that label foods for retail sale to disclose information about BE food and BE food ingredient content. The proposed rule is intended to provide a mandatory uniform national standard for disclosure of information to consumers about the BE status of foods. AMS seeks comments on the proposed rule. This proposed rule also announces AMS' intent to request approval by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of new information collection and recordkeeping requirements to implement the proposed BE food disclosure standard.

This rule revises and clarifies requirements for the processing of donated foods in order to: Incorporate successful processing options tested in demonstration projects into the regulations, ensure accountability for donated foods provided for processing, increase program efficiency and integrity, and support vendor and State operability. The rule requires multi-State processors to enter into National Processing Agreements to process donated foods into end products, permits processors to substitute commercially purchased beef and pork of U.S. origin and of equal or better quality for donated beef and pork, and streamlines and modernizes oversight of inventories of donated foods at processors. The rule also revises regulatory provisions in plain language, to make them easier to read and understand.

This proposed rule would amend the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) section of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) organic regulations to implement recommendations submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). This rule proposes to: Add elemental sulfur to the National List for use in organic livestock production; and, reclassify potassium acid tartrate from a non-agricultural substance to an agricultural substance and require the organic form of the ingredient when commercially available.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is adopting, as a final rule, without change, an interim rule implementing a recommendation from the Citrus Administrative Committee (Committee) to relax the minimum size requirements currently prescribed under the marketing order for oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and pummelos grown in Florida and the grapefruit import regulation. The interim rule relaxed the minimum size requirement for domestic shipments and imports of grapefruit from 3  5/16 inches to 3 inches in diameter.

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on January 18, 2018, which describes 35 amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (Crops, Livestock and Handling). The public comment period closed on March 19, 2018. This document reopens the comment period on the proposed rule for an additional 30 days. Multiple stakeholders requested that AMS extend the comment period to provide more time to develop comments on the proposed rule.