Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan; Amendments to the Plan, Rules and Regulations, and Rules of Practice for Petitions

This final rule amends the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan (Plan) to: eliminate the refund provision of the Plan; assess watermelon importers and add importer member(s) to the Plan; exempt from assessments producers with less than 10 acres of watermelons rather than 5 acres and importers of less than 150,000 pounds; cover all 50 States by the Plan; and revise the criteria for determining the eligibility of producers to serve on the Board. In addition, conforming changes would be made to the rules and regulations issued under the Plan and the rules of practice for petitions.