Apples; Grade Standards

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

7 CFR Part 51

[Docket Number FV-97-301]

Apples; Grade Standards

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Interim final rule with request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This rule will revise the United States Standard for Grades of

Apples and the U.S. Condition Standards for Export. This rule revises

the U.S. Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades basic requirements section,

the definition of damage by invisible water core, and the U.S.

Condition Standards for Export to exempt the Fuji variety of apples

from damage by invisible water core. This change will result in a

benefit to handlers and producers of Fuji apples, by allowing more

fruit to be marketed which would otherwise be graded as defective.

DATES: This rule is effective May 30, 1997. Comments must be received

by July 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments

concerning this interim final rule. Comments must be sent to the

Standardization Section, Fresh Products Branch, Fruit and Vegetable

Division, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of

Agriculture, P.O. Box 96456, Room 2065 South Building, Washington, D.C.

20090-6456. Comments should make reference to the date and page number

of this issue of the Federal Register and will be made available for

public inspection in the above office during regular business hours.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frank O'Sullivan, at the above address

or call (202) 720-2185.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is

issuing this rule in conformance with Executive Order 12866.

This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12988, Civil

Justice Reform. This action is not intended to have retroactive effect.

This rule will not preempt any State or local laws, regulations, or

policies, unless they present an irreconcilable conflict with this

rule. There are no administrative procedures which must be exhausted

prior to any judicial challenge to the provisions of the rule.

Pursuant to the requirements set forth in the Regulatory

Flexibility Act (RFA), the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has

considered the economic impact of this action on small entities.

The purpose of the RFA is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of

businesses subject to such actions in order that small businesses will

not be unduly or disproportionately burdened. The United States

standards issued pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, 7

U.S.C. 1621-1627, and issued thereunder, are unique in that they are

brought about through group action of essentially small entities acting

on their own behalf. Thus, both statutes have compatibility.

Although it is difficult to obtain an exact number of Fuji apple

handlers and producers (primarily due to the fact that an apple

producer or handler normally grows, or handles more than just one

variety) it is estimated that there are approximately 900 Fuji apple

handlers and producers in the United States. Small agricultural service

firms, which includes handlers, have been defined by the Small Business

Administration (13 CFR 121.601) as those having annual receipts of less

than $5,000,000 and small agricultural producers are defined as those

having annual receipts of less than $500,000. A majority of handlers

and producers of Fuji apples may be classified as small entities.

Information provided by the United States Apple Association (USAA)

indicates that U.S. holdings of Fuji variety apples as of November 1,

1992 (figures are in millions of boxes), were 1.4 million and has

steadily increased to approximately 8.7 million as of November 1, 1996.

The Fuji variety has become Washington State's third largest variety

this year. The USAA also reports that there are storages with Fuji

holdings in approximately 19 other States.

This rule will revise the U.S. Standard for Grades of Apples and

the U.S. Condition Standards. This rule specifically revises the U.S.

Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades basic requirements section, the

definition of damage by invisible water core, and the U.S. Condition

Standards for Export to exempt the Fuji variety of apples from damage

by invisible water core. These revisions will be a benefit to handlers

and producers of Fuji apples, regardless of the size, by allowing more

fruit to be marketed which would otherwise be graded as defective.

The U.S. Standards for Grades of Apples and the U.S. Condition

Standards for Export are both voluntary grade standards. There are no

regulatory provisions that require the use of these standards with the

exception of the Export Apple and Pear Act (7 U.S.C. 581 et seq.) and

its regulations (7 CFR Part 33) in regard to the U.S. Standards for

Grades of Apples. Under the Export Apple and Pear Act shipments of

apples to foreign countries must meet a minimum requirement of the U.S.

No. 1 grade (there are exemptions to this Act based on lot size,

destination, etc.) However, the grade changes being made in this rule-

making only affect the U.S. Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades of the

U.S. Standards for Grades of Apples and the U.S. Condition Standards

for Export; none of which are contingent upon the Export Apple and Pear

Act.

AMS has determined that this action would not impose any additional

reporting or recordkeeping requirements on either small or large apple

handlers. Accordingly, AMS has determined that the issuance of this

interim final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

AMS recently received a request from the Northwest Horticultural

Council (NHC) and the USAA, requesting relief from scoring damage by

invisible water core in the Fuji variety of apples. The NHC represents

the deciduous tree fruit industry in the States of Washington, Oregon,

and Idaho on Federal and international trade policy issues and the USAA

represents the apple industry on a nation-wide basis. According to the

NHC and the USAA, the production of the Fuji variety has steadily been

on the increase in the U.S. over the past several years. As previously

mentioned, U.S. holdings of the Fuji variety as of November 1, 1992,

were (figures are in millions of boxes) 1.4 million and has increased

to 8.7 million as of November 1, 1996. The Fuji variety has become the

third largest variety this year for Washington State.

In addition, the U.S. Fuji holdings have traditionally experienced

a history of heavy export. Of the three million boxes of Fuji's

produced in Washington State in 1995, two million were exported.

Therefore, two-thirds of Washington State's Fuji crop and almost half

of the entire U.S. Fuji crop was exported in 1995.

The Fuji apple is a relatively new variety of apple in the United

States. The Fuji variety is a cross between the Red Delicious and Ralls

Janet varieties and was bred in Japan over 50 years ago. Although it

was named in 1962, the variety was not highly marketed in the U.S.

until the mid to late 1980's. According to the NHC and the USAA, Fuji

apples are prone to a condition known as ``invisible water core.''

Invisible water core manifests itself as translucent or glassy areas of

tissue in the flesh of the apple. The location of

[[Page 28980]]

these translucent or glassy areas is not necessarily in the core region

as its name would indicate but may be located sometimes around the

vascular bundles or scattered in the flesh toward the calyx-end of the

fruit. Mild to moderate symptoms may even disappear. Alternatively, if

water core is severe, however, it may be followed by an irreversible

breakdown of the flesh.

According to one expert of post harvest diseases and disorders of

apples, Anna L. Snowden, Ph.D., in all types of water core the

characteristic water-soaking results from a leakage of cell sap into

the intercellular spaces (which are normally filled with air),

following an abnormally rapid conversion of starch to sugar. It is this

apparent conversion to sugar that may soon yield to internal breakdown

in most apple varieties. Therefore, watercore has traditionally been

considered an undesirable or pathological defect.

However, proponents of this interim final rule have suggested that

not only do certain consumers find this condition of Fuji apples

desirable, but that this variety may store longer and without internal

breakdown complications as with other apple varieties. Eugene M.

Kupferman, Ph.D., Extension Horticulturalist at the Washington State

University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee,

Washington, stated in a letter to the NHC that, `` `Fuji' apples have a

very sweet flavor and a good sugar/acid balance. One of the attributes

of ` Fuji' is their ability to accumulate sugar, called `watercore' in

the flesh of the fruit. `Fuji' apples with watercore are prized by

Asian consumers, and growers perform a number of cultural practices in

the orchard to promote watercore * * *. Japanese consumers prefer

watercored to non-watercored `Fuji'. They will reject apples without

watercore during the first 3-4 months after harvest.''

Dr. Kupferman further maintains that, `` `Fuji' apples of the

appropriate maturity with moderate levels of watercore, can be stored

and marketed for at least 6 months. `Fuji' with slight watercore can be

stored up to 12 months without problems in Controlled Atmosphere.

Furthermore, watercore is far less of a problem with `Fuji' than

with `Red Delicious' apples, which can be stored for only 3 months with

moderate watercore. This appears to be due to differences in the rate

of metabolism of the two varieties. Research is underway to study this

further. Of course, with either variety, when very heavily watercored

fruit are stored excessively long, internal browning can result.''

Presently, scoring invisible water core on apples includes the

following: First, water core is separated into two different types,

based on whether it may be seen externally or not; Second, if the water

core exists as ``invisible water core'' it is only scored against

certain grades during certain times of the year; Finally, if the U.S.

Condition Standards for Export are requested to be applied, damage by

invisible water core is considered a defect at anytime of the year

regardless of the ``grade.''

If water core is visible externally, that is, it may be seen

without the need for cutting the apple, it is referred to in the U.S.

Standards for Grades of Apples as ``visible water core'' by definition

(section 51.320 Serious damage, paragraph (f)). Visible water core is

scored as serious damage if the apple demonstrates an area which is

visible externally, and is greater than the area of a circle one-half

inch in diameter. Serious damage by visible water core is scored as a

defect against all apple grades, and when applying the U.S. Condition

Standards, at any time of the year.

If water core occurs within the flesh of the apple and cannot be

seen externally, i.e. the apple must be cut in a plane perpendicular

to, and midway between, a straight line from the stem and calyx end, it

is scored as ``damage by invisible'' water core if any of three

particular conditions are met. These three conditions are: If the

invisible water core exists around the core of the apple and extends

outward to any vascular bundle(s); if the affected areas surround the

vascular bundles (and does not extend into the core) such that three or

more vascular bundles meet or coalesce; or if it exists in more than a

slight degree outside the circular area formed by the vascular bundles.

However, damage by invisible water core may only be scored against

the U.S. Extra Fancy or U.S. Fancy grades, and is not considered as a

scoreable defect against the U.S. No. 1 or U.S. Utility grade. Further,

damage by invisible water core is scored as a defect under the U.S.

Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades, only after January 31, of the year

following the year of production.

The U.S. Condition Standards for Export are additional requirements

that may be applied to domestic shipments of apples as well as export

lots. These extra requirements are not an extension of, or a part of

the United States Standards for Grades of Apples or of the U.S. Apple

and Pear Export Act. The U.S. Condition Standards for Export, 7 CFR

Part 51 Section 51.323 appear in the CFR immediately following the U.S.

Standards for Grades of Apples, 7 CFR Part 51 Sections 51.300--51.322.

These standards are provided as an additional set of requirements

for application to lots of apples. They were originally designed to be

voluntarily used as an additional set of standards which would

primarily cover condition defects only for export shipments. At their

inception they were simply referred to as the ``Export Standards.''

However, over a period of many years the title given to these

regulations is now the ``U.S. Condition Standards for Export'' also

known simply as the ``U.S. Condition Standards'' and, due in part to

their increased popularity among receivers, are now used when ever two

parties involved in shipping and receiving lots of apples so designate.

Since these U.S. Condition Standards are not part of the Export Apple

and Pear Act, nor are they incorporated in any other regulatory

article, they are a voluntary set of standards which provide for

additional tolerances primarily in reference to condition defects. When

applying the U.S. Condition Standards for Export, regardless of the

grade, invisible water core is considered as a defect at anytime of the

year. The U.S. Condition Standards allow five percent for apples

damaged by invisible water core.

The U.S. Export Apple and Pear Act (7 U.S.C. 581 et seq.) and its

regulations (7 CFR part 33), requires that apples being exported from

the U.S. meet a minimum grade requirement of U.S. No. 1. There are no

specific requirements in the Act pertaining to invisible water core.

Although the U.S. Condition Standards for Export do have requirements

pertaining to invisible water core, the U.S. Condition Standards for

Export are a voluntary set of standards separate and apart from the

Export Apple and Pear Act and are not incorporated by the Act or the

U.S. Standards for Grades of Apples, i.e. there are no requirements on

behalf of the U.S. Export Apple and Pear Act or the U.S. Standards for

Grades of Apples that state that apples must meet the requirements of

the U.S. Condition Standards for Export.

When shippers from the U.S. attempt to ship lots of Fuji apples to

foreign markets the receiver generally requests that lots meet a U.S.

Extra Fancy or Fancy grade. Presently, apples exported from the U.S.

which contain more than 10 percent damage by invisible water core, may

attain no higher than the U.S. No. 1 grade (because invisible water

core is not considered a defect under the U.S. No. 1 grade but is

considered a defect under the U.S. Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades).

The Fuji apple

[[Page 28981]]

shippers feel that since the presence of invisible water core is

usually required for Asian markets, and since the standards presently

define invisible water core in the U.S. Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy

grades as a defect, the standards prevent them from providing the buyer

with a high quality product.

In addition, the Canadian government maintains Canadian Import

Requirements on certain commodities shipped from the U.S. into Canada.

One of these commodities is apples. Due to U.S. requirements, apples

shipped to Canada must meet the requirements of the U.S. Apple and Pear

Export Act. However, in addition, apples shipped to Canada must also

meet Canadian Import requirements which in turn require the apples meet

the U.S. Condition Standards for Export. According to the NHC, ``As a

consequence, our industry's efforts to meet current Canadian demand for

Fuji apples are being severely curtailed.'' Furthermore, the USAA has

requested ``that you (USDA) make this change immediately since the

regulation currently serves as an administrative barrier to trade with

Canada, which is the industry's third largest export market behind

Taiwan and Mexico.''

Therefore, as a result of a request made by both the NHC and the

USAA, the following changes are being made to the U.S. Standards for

Grades of Apples and the U.S. Condition Standards for Export. Sections

51.300 and 51.301, U.S. Extra Fancy and U.S. Fancy grades respectively,

will be revised by changing the statement for ``free from damage by

invisible water core after January 31st of the year following the year

of production'' by adding ``except for the Fuji variety of apples.

Invisible water core shall not be scored against the Fuji variety of

apples under any circumstances.''

Section 51.319, paragraph (f), the definition for damage by

invisible water core, shall be revised by adding the following

sentence: ``Invisible water core shall not be scored as damage against

the Fuji variety of apples under any circumstances.''

In addition, section 51.323, paragraph (c) of the U.S. Condition

Standards for Export states that ``Not more than 5 percent of the

apples in any lot shall be affected by scald, internal breakdown,

freezing injury, or decay; or damage by water core, * * *'' This

paragraph will be revised by moving water core to the end of the

paragraph and adding a statement to allow an exemption for Fuji variety

apples. Thus, paragraph (c) will now read, ``Not more than a total of 5

percent of the apples in any lot shall be affected by scald, internal

breakdown, freezing injury, or decay; or damage by bitter pit, Jonathan

spot, water core, except that invisible water core shall not be scored

as damage when these standards are applied to the Fuji variety of

apples, or other condition factors: Provided, That:''

The Agency will make copies of this rulemaking readily available

for any interested person or party upon request. In addition, it is

intended that this action will be publicized through various actions

and committees of the NHC and the USAA. Also, the Agency will

distribute copies of this rulemaking to various apple industry members.

Finally, interested persons are invited to submit information on the

regulatory and informational impacts of this action on small

businesses.

AMS has considered alternatives to issuing this interim final rule.

The Agency has considered conducting no action at all in regard to the

request. However, as present reports indicate, the Fuji volume

production is increasing on a yearly basis as well as exports of Fuji

apples from this country. No action at all by the Agency could result

in further lost foreign market sales for Fuji growers, shippers, or

handlers.

Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553, it is found and determined upon good

cause that it is impracticable, unnecessary, and contrary to the public

interest to give preliminary notice prior to putting this rule into

effect and that good cause exists for not postponing the effective date

of this rule 30 days after publication in the Federal Register because:

(1) This year's holdings as well as projected holdings for the Fuji

apple are on the increase. Therefore more apples are available longer;

(2) it would not be beneficial for the quality of the fruit to

withstand storage for the length of a 30 day effective date as well as

a comment period; (3) the changes being made in this interim final rule

only affect the Fuji variety of apple and the requests for these

changes is being made by two trade associations that represent the

majority of the Fuji handlers; (4) this interim final rule provides a

60 day comment period, and all comments timely received will be

considered prior to finalization of this rule.

List of Subjects in 7 CFR Part 51

Agricultural commodities, Food grades and standards, Fruits, Nuts,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Trees, Vegetables.

For reasons set forth in the preamble, 7 CFR Part 51 is amended as

follows:

PART 51--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 51 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627.

2. Section 51.300 is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 51.300 U.S. Extra Fancy.

``U.S. Extra Fancy'' consists of apples of one variety which are

mature but not overripe, carefully hand-picked, clean, fairly well

formed; free from decay, internal browning, internal breakdown, scald,

scab, bitter pit, Jonathan spot, freezing injury, visible water core,

and broken skins and bruises except those which are slight and incident

to proper handling and packing. The apples are also free from injury

caused by smooth net-like russeting, sunburn or sprayburn, limb rubs,

hail, drought spots, scars, disease, insects, or other means; and free

from damage by smooth solid, slightly rough or rough russeting, or stem

or calyx cracks, and free from damage by invisible water core after

January 31st of the year following the year of production except for

the Fuji variety of apples. Invisible water core shall not be scored

against the Fuji variety of apples under any circumstances. Each apple

of this grade has the amount of color specified in Sec. 51.305 for the

variety. (See Secs. 51.305 and 51.307.)

3. Section 51.301 is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 51.301 U.S. Fancy.

``U.S. Fancy'' consists of apples of one variety which are mature

but not overripe, carefully hand-picked, clean, fairly well formed;

free from decay, internal browning, internal breakdown, bitter pit,

Jonathan spot, scald, freezing injury, visible water core, and broken

skins and bruises except those which are incident to proper handling

and packing. The apples are also free from damage caused by russeting,

sunburn or sprayburn, limb rubs, hail, drought spots, scars, stem or

calyx cracks, disease, insects, damage by other means, or invisible

water core after January 31st of the year following the year of

production, except for the Fuji variety of apples. Invisible water core

shall not be scored against the Fuji variety of apples under any

circumstances. Each apple of this grade has the amount of color

specified in Sec. 51.305 for the variety. (See Secs. 51.305 and

51.307.)

4. In Sec. 51.319, paragraph (f) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 51.319 Damage.

* * * * *

[[Page 28982]]

(f) Invisible water core existing around the core and extending to

water core in the vascular bundles; or surrounding the vascular bundles

when the affected areas surrounding three or more vascular bundles meet

or coalesce; or existing in more than slight degree outside the

circular area formed by the vascular bundles. Provided, That invisible

water core shall not be scored as damage against the Fuji variety of

apples under any circumstances.

* * * * *

5. In Sec. 51.323 paragraph (c) introductory text is revised to

read as follows.

Sec. 51.323 U.S. Condition Standards for Export.\4\

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\4\ These standards may be applied to domestic shipments of

apples as well as export lots, and may be referred to as ``U.S.

Condition Standards.''

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* * * * *

(c) Not more than a total of 5 percent of the apples in any lot

shall be affected by scald, internal breakdown, freezing injury, or

decay; or damage by bitter pit, Jonathan spot, water core except that

invisible water core shall not be scored as damage when these condition

standards are applied to the Fuji variety of apples, or other condition

factors: Provided, That:

* * * * *

Dated: May 22, 1997.

Robert C. Keeney,

Director, Fruit and Vegetable Division.

[FR Doc. 97-13968 Filed 5-28-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P