Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the Department's intention to revise a currently

approved information collection and currently approved license

application forms for the purpose of permitting importers,

manufacturers, and exporters of certain dairy articles subject to

tariff-rate import quota licensing requirements to apply for such

licenses in 1996.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before August 14, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to the Dairy Import Quota Manager,

Import Policies and Programs Division, AG BOX 1021, Foreign

Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

20250-1021. All comments received will be available for public

inspection in room 5541 South Building at the above address between the

hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. All

responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request

submitted to the Office of Management and Budget on this matter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard P. Warsack, Dairy Import Quota

Manager, room 5541 South Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

Washington, D.C. 20250-1021 or telephone (202) 720-2916. Copies of the

information collection may be obtained from Pamela Hopkins, Information

Collection Coordinator, room 4957 South Building, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, AG BOX 1060, Washington, D.C. 20250-1060 or telephone

(202) 720-6713.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Import Regulation 1, Revision 7 governs the administration of the

import licensing system for certain dairy articles which were subject

to quotas proclaimed under section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustment

Act of 1933, as amended (Section 22). As a result of entry into force

of the Uruguay Round Trade Agreements, Section 22 quotas on dairy

articles were replaced by tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on January 1, 1995

and proclaimed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

(HTS). TRQs provide for the entry of a specified quantity of an article

(in-quota quantity) at a reduced tariff rate during a given period.

There is no limitation on the total amount of an article which may be

entered, but quantities entered in excess of an in-quota quantity are

subject to a higher tariff rate. For certain dairy articles subject to

TRQs, imports may only be entered at the in-quota tariff rate by a

person or firm to whom the Department has issued an import license.

Import licenses are valid for a 12-month period from January 1 through

December 31 of each year.

For 1995, existing license forms were issued to import that

quantity of imports which had been subject to absolute quotas and

licensing requirement when Section 22 quotas were in effect. The

issuance of licenses for the Uruguay Round in-quota quantity increases

for certain dairy articles, which became effective on January 1, 1995,

was effected through an interim rule published in the Federal Register

on January 6, 1995, which amended Import Regulation 1, Revision 7 for

this purpose. A subsequent Federal Register notice, published on May

2, 1995, further amended Import Regulations 1, Revision 7, to implement

the issuance of licenses for Uruguay Round in-quota quantity increases

for cheese imported from certain countries which became effective on

July 1, 1995. A revision to the approved information collection and

license application forms was approved by the Office of Management and

Budget for the Uruguay Round in-quota quantity license application

forms for 1995. The Department intends to revise the currently approved

information collection and currently approved applications forms to

permit importers, manufacturers, and exporters of dairy articles

subject to TRQ licensing requirements to apply for licenses to import

in-quota quantities of such dairy articles for 1996. The Department

intends to request expedited clearance from the Office of Management

and Budget on the proposed revisions in order to implement the

application process in the most efficient and timely manner.

Supporting Statement

A. Justification

1. Circumstances requiring the collection of the information. Dairy

products which were subject to absolute quotas under section 22 of the

Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, as amended (7 U.S.C. 624) were

converted to tariff-rate quotas on January 1, 1995 under Presidential

Proclamation 6763 of December 23, 1994 which implemented trade

agreements resulting from the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade

Negotiations. That Proclamation also implemented the President's

authority to allocate the in-quota quantities of dairy products subject

to tariff-rate quotas among supplying countries proclaimed in the

Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) as a result of the entry into force of

the Uruguay Round Agreements. Congress approved the Uruguay Round

Agreements under section 101(a) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act

(P.L. 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809).

The importation of most cheese and cheese products and certain non-

cheese dairy articles must be accompanied by a license issued by the

Department to enter at the TRQ in-quota tariff rate. The import

licensing system is administered by the Department in accordance with

Import Regulation 1, Revision 7 (7 CFR part 6). The Department expects

to publish a revised Import Regulation, as envisioned in the Advanced

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (59 FR 28495), in the near future for the

1996 quota year. The Department intends to revise the currently

approved information collection and currently approved application

forms for 1996 for the purpose of issuing revised and improved license

application forms permitting importers, manufacturers, and exporters of

dairy products to apply for import licenses for the 1996 quota year.

[[Page 39352]]

2. Purpose of information to be used. The basic information

regarding the purpose of the information to be used in the collection,

provided in the current supporting statement is applicable with the

following changes.

In addition to information requested in the application forms in

1995, the revised forms require that applicants for all lottery

licenses rank order their requests in order of preference (most

desirable to least desirable) as was required of applicants for Uruguay

Round in-quota quantities of non-cheese dairy articles in the 1995

quota year. The purpose of applicants rank ordering their requests for

licenses is to establish a rank order lottery system which is intended

to provide a better alignment between importers' requirements and

licenses obtained. In addition, the revised forms will add EC Uruguay

Round in-quota quantities of cheese to the license application form for

designated licenses. This is being done to implement the U.S. Uruguay

Round commitment to the EC permitting the EC to designate importers for

such cheese. Information which will no longer be required on a revised

form is that applicants for historical licenses list each historical

license allocated to that person or firm. This information is now

considered redundant based on its availability in the computer data

bank.

3. Use of improved information technology. The information provided

in the supporting statement for the currently approved collection of

information is applicable. In recent years, a system was developed

under which basic applications could be read by an optical scanner. To

further increase the ease of processing, and to reflect the proposed

revised forms have been simplified and redesigned into an enhanced

machine-readable format. The simplified forms require applicants to

fill in a circle opposite the articles that they are applying for a

license to import. The importer's control number will also be entered

by filing in circles opposite the appropriate digit numbers.

4. Efforts to identify duplication. Not applicable.

5. Methods to minimize burdens of small business entities. The

information provided in the supporting statement for the currently

approved collection of information is applicable.

6. Consequences if information collection were less frequent. The

information provided in the supporting statement for the currently

approved collection of information is applicable.

7. Inconsistency with guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. The information

provided in the supporting statement for the currently approved

collection of information is applicable.

8. Consultations with persons outside the agency. The information

provided in the supporting statement for the currently approved

collection of information is applicable.

9. Confidentiality provided to respondents. The information

provided in the supporting statement for the currently approved

collection of information is applicable.

10. Questions of a sensitive nature. Not applicable.

11. Annual cost to Government and respondents. The information

provided in the supporting statement for the currently approved

collection of information is applicable, but the estimated costs for

1994 need to be updated. For 1995, the salaries and other

administrative costs are estimated to be $322,681. The fee for 1995 was

$89 for each import license issued. The cost to the respondents is

included in item 12 below.

12. Estimate of burden. The information provided in the supporting

statement for the currently approved collection of information is

applicable for licenses issued in 1995. The estimate of the burden for

1996 is indicated in the following table.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

No. of

No. of responses Total Hours

Form No. responses per annual per Total

applicant responses response

------------------------------------------------------------------------

922.................. 500 1 500 0.025 125

923.................. 600 1 600 0.050 300

923A................. ......... ......... ......... ........ ......

923B *............... ......... ......... ......... ........ ......

--------------------------------------------------

Total.......... 1,100 ......... 1,100 ........ 425

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*923, 923A and 923B constitute one form.

13. Reasons for the change in burden. There is a reduction of 429

hours in the estimate of the burden of information collection between

1995 and 1996 which is based mainly on the elimination of forms 924 and

924A which were needed to conduct the separate application procedures

under which licenses for the Uruguay Round in-quota increases where

issued for January and July of that year. The elimination of these

forms is estimated to reduce the total number of estimated responses

for all types of licenses from 1,560 to 1,100. The estimated burden is

also being reduced based on the use of the revised and improved

application forms. The result is an estimated reduction in the total

annual average hours used in preparing responses from 920 hours to 425

hours. There is no data with respect to the annual cost incurred by

each respondent (person or firm) based on the amount of time used in

filling out the application forms and the average hourly salary of such

respondents. It is extremely difficult to calculate this cost because

the executive or administrative level of the individual responsible for

filling out the forms tends to vary depending on the size and location

of the person or firm, the size of the license portfolio, and

experience of the person or firm in importing licensed dairy products.

Based on our research, the estimated total annual cost associated with

the estimated total burden of 425 hours is $12,750.

14. Tabulation, analysis and publication plans. Not applicable.

Signed at Washington, D.C., July 28, 1995.

Timothy J. Galvin,

Acting Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service and Vice President,

Commodity Credit Corporation.

[FR Doc. 95-19027 Filed 8-1-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-10-M