The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced in the Federal Register the reopening of the comment period on a proposal to terminate the marketing order regulating the handling of onions grown in south Texas. The reopened comment period will close on Dec. 8, 2021.
The proposed rule to terminate the marketing order was published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2021, and the comment period closed on October 4, 2021.
During the initial comment period, USDA received a request to extend the comment period for an additional 30 days to allow those affected by the rulemaking to weigh in on the proposed termination of the program.
The marketing order was established in 1961 and authorizes the South Texas Onion Committee to conduct research and promotion initiatives, establish minimum quality requirements under USDA’s oversight and requires a continuance referendum every six years to determine producers’ level of support for the program.
Interested parties can post comments concerning the proposed termination at www.regulations.gov or email them to MarketingOrderComment@usda.gov. All comments submitted by the deadline will be made available for public review and will be considered before a final determination is made.
More information about the marketing order regulating the handling of south Texas onions is available on the 959 South Texas Onions webpage.
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 provides oversight to 29 fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop marketing orders and agreements, which helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.
More information about federal marketing orders is available on the Market Development Division webpage or by contacting the Market Development Division at (202) 720-2491.
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