Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan; Increased Assessment Rate

This final rule implements a recommendation from the National Watermelon Promotion Board to increase the assessment rate from six cents per hundredweight to nine cents per hundredweight. Domestic watermelon producers of 10 acres or more and domestic first handlers of watermelons will each pay four and a half cents per hundredweight, and importers of 150,000 pounds or more annually of watermelons will pay nine cents per hundredweight. This final rule also amends current regulatory language to correct non-substantive and typographical errors.