AMS to Decrease Value Assigned to Cotton for Import Fees
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a direct final rule that amends the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations by decreasing the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program.
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The final rule is effective Nov. 15. However, if the AMS receives pushback by Oct. 16, it will withdraw the rule.
AMS said the amendment is required each year to ensure that assessments collected on imported cotton and the cotton content of imported products will be the same as those paid on domestically produced cotton. In addition, AMS is updating the Import Assessment Table to account for changes since the last assessment adjustment in 2023.
"This direct final rule amends the value assigned to imported cotton in the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations (7 CFR 1205.510(b)(2)) that is used to determine the Cotton Research and Promotion assessment on imported cotton and cotton products," AMS said. "The total value of assessment levied on cotton imports is the sum of two parts. The first part of the assessment is based on the weight of cotton imported -- levied at a rate of $1 per bale of cotton, which is equivalent to 500 pounds, or $1 per 226.8 kilograms of cotton. The second part of the import assessment (referred to as the supplemental assessment) is based on the value of imported cotton lint or the cotton contained in imported cotton products -- levied at a rate of five-tenths of one percent of the value of domestically produced cotton."