We received the following information from the National Cotton Council: Attention Required - Mismatched PBI Tags and AMS Sample Coupons For the 2017 crop, instances of mismatched PBI tags and sample coupons have increased, despite an extensive communications effort conducted by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Cotton and Tobacco Program, the National Cotton Council [...]
The OSHA electronic reporting rule has been delayed for two weeks, until December 15. This delay was posted in the Federal Register on November 24, 2017. The rule has not been cancelled, and it remains to be seen if it will be delayed again. The fact that it was only delayed for two weeks could [...]
The OSHA electronic reporting rule becomes effective on December 1 for all gins with 20 or more employees. This means that if you are an affected employer, you have until December 1 to log onto the OSHA web site and report the data from 2016. Data reported is basically the information from the OSHA 300A [...]
I was visiting with some of the Southeastern folks earlier this week, and talk turned to hiring practices. In many of those states, they have mandatory e-verify requirements, so hiring can be a more difficult process. During this process, Dusty Findley of Southeastern Cotton Ginners made a point that I had never considered - you may [...]
The Southwest Council of Agribusiness announced today that the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be speaking at their annual meeting in Lamesa this Friday. The Secretary is coming as a special guest of U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, who will also be attending the annual meeting. SWCA has moved their annual [...]
Under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, cotton gins were required to register with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This registration requirement has been in place since December 12 of 2002. Even after almost 15 years, however, gins are still having questions about this process, and the process is evolving. In 2011, FDA's role was updated [...]
The Office of the Texas State Chemist (OTSC) hosted a conference call yesterday, in response to the FDA Notice related to Hurricanes, Flooding, and Power Outages. The Office of the Texas State Chemist is the State Agency that enforces the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. During the conference call, OTSC stressed that they were available [...]
In response to the flooding related to Hurricane Harvey, FDA issued a notice that any food or food ingredients exposed to flood waters may not enter the food chain. This notice is not specific to cotton or field crops, but covers all types of human and animal feeds. Click here to read the full notice. In [...]
On August 31, a Texas Federal judge invalidated the expansion of the federal overtime rule. As the rule was originally written, the salary threshold for employees to qualify as exempt from overtime pay requirements was increased from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year. District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant found that DOL does not [...]
The OSHA Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records rule became effective on January 1, 2017. Under the original rule, gins were required to submit the records from their completed 2016 Form 300A. by July 1, 2017. After the first year, covered establishments must submit the information by March 2 of each year. When July 1 rolled around, the [...]
