WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.149
29May1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-2008)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: UNITED STATES
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Department ofAgriculture (53)
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Onions (HSChapter 7)
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Onions Grown in
Certain Designated Counties inIdaho, andMalheur Country, Oregon, andImported
Onions; Modification ofSizeRequirements (2pages)
6. Description ofcontent: Thisproposed rulewould change the"repacker/prepacker" size
designations forallvarieties ofonions except white orredvarieties byincreasing the
minimum diameter from 1½to1¾inches, andthemaximum diameter from 2½to
2¾inches foronions inthissizecategory. Recent trends inbuyer preference reflect an
increasing demand forlarger sizeonions inthe"repacker/prepacker" category. As
provided forunder Section 8EoftheAgricultural Marketing Agreement Actof1937,
theproposed change totheminimum sizerequirement would alsoapply toallimported
onions except white orredvarieties.
7. Objective andrationale: Tobenefit producers andhandlers byincreasing theirflexibility
andefficiency inthepackaging of"repacker/prepacker" sizeonions.
8. Relevant documents: 61FR20188, 6May1996; 7CFR Part958. Willappear inthe
Federal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:Tobedetermined
10. Final dateforcomments: 5June1996
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: