Classification of Foreign-Growth Cotton

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 28 [AMS-CN-15-0051] AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA. ACTION: Direct final rule. SUMMARY: The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is amending regulations pertaining to administrative and operational procedures for the classification of foreign-growth cotton. In anticipation that cotton merchants may want to use AMS cotton quality determinations to establish foreign-growth cotton as tenderable against the World Cotton futures contract offered by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), representatives of the U.S. cotton industry and ICE formally requested that AMS make any regulatory amendments necessary to better accommodate the classification of foreign-growth cotton. Consequently, AMS seeks to clarify the existing language, update the terms and practices described to comply with today's industry norms and current cotton classification technologies, and establish procedural safeguards to the classification process for foreign-growth cotton that promote accuracy. DATES: This direct final rule is effective April 11, 2016, without further action or notice, unless significant adverse comment is received by March 11, 2016. If significant adverse comment is received, AMS will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the Federal Register . ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted to the addresses specified below. All comments will be made available to the public. Please do not include personally iden…