USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is seeking comments by January 4, 2027, on renewing paperwork that eligible certified organic handlers use to apply for exemptions from market-promotion assessments. The collection covers several California commodity marketing orders, including almonds, walnuts and raisins.
The notice, filed November 3 and scheduled for Federal Register publication November 4, announces the agency’s intention to request an extension of an existing information collection. It does not create a new exemption or change eligibility. The current Office of Management and Budget approval expires April 30, 2027.
California orders covered
California marketing orders covered by the notice include desert grapes, olives, almonds, walnuts, dates, raisins and dried prunes. Certified organic handlers apply for the assessment exemption by submitting an application to the applicable marketing order board or committee, according to AMS.
Dried prunes have a separate qualification: AMS says that order’s handling requirements are suspended through July 30, 2030, at the industry’s request. Its reporting requirements are currently inactive, but the agency is retaining the order in this paperwork renewal pending the industry’s decision on whether to pursue termination in 2030.
Feedback on time and paperwork
AMS estimates that the collection requires 15 minutes per response, with 210 eligible handlers submitting one response each annually. That puts the estimated total annual reporting burden at 52.5 hours across the collection, not just the California orders.
The agency wants feedback on whether the information is necessary, whether its burden estimates are accurate, and how to improve the information’s usefulness and clarity. It also invites suggestions for reducing respondents’ workload, including through electronic collection methods.
Comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov or by mail to the AMS Specialty Crops Program’s Market Development Division docket clerk. Submissions should reference docket AMS-SC-26-2246 and the November 4, 2026, Federal Register notice on pages 69523-69524. AMS says comments will be posted without changes and become public records.
