WHOLE SEED DEFINITIONS PUT ON HOLD

COTTONSEED MESSAGE BOARD DEBUTS

COTTONSEED EXPORTERS RECEIVING ADVICE ON EXPORT SHIPPING

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM

COTTONSEED CRUSH PACE PICKING UP

BIOTERRORISM ACT DEADLINE NEARS

CANADIAN BEEF EXPORTS HIGHER TO THE US

MOVING?

WHOLE SEED DEFINITIONS PUT ON HOLD - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger put a hold of up to 180 days on all regulatory processes in the state last week just as the California Department of Food and Agriculture was preparing to collect public comments on a proposal to add new definitions for whole cottonseed in the state.  The proposal would establish an upper tolerance level, 15% in this case, of free fatty acids that would be permitted for whole seed shipments into the state.  Shipments with product that exceeded the tolerance level would have to be labeled as “damaged”.  NCPA continues to monitor the process.

COTTONSEED MESSAGE BOARD DEBUTS - NCPA’s web site has been enhanced this past week with the addition of a cottonseed message board, an interactive area where buyers and other parties interested in cottonseed oil, feed products, linters, seed or any other product and/or service offered by the industry may post a message for the industry, or conduct an on-line discussion. Users may view messages any time without registering, but must register with their user name, e-mail address and password in order to post a message.  Users from across the U.S. (California and New Jersey) have already posted messages looking for different products—one for seed and another for linters.  Users must also register in order to view profiles of those who have posted messages, but no personal information is collected.

COTTONSEED EXPORTERS RECEIVING ADVICE ON EXPORT SHIPPING - The NCPA, in conjunction with the National Cotton Council and the Association of Feed Ingredient and Cottonseed Product Dealers Association, will distribute to the industry a memo describing measures members should take that are involved in shipping cottonseed to overseas destinations.  The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (“Protocol”), which provides a new legal framework for transboundary movement of living modified organisms (LMOs), came into force on September 11, 2003.  While the United States is not a party to the Protocol, US businesses exporting to those countries that have ratified the Protocol are expected to implement its provisions.  Article 18.2(a) of the Protocol says that each party shall take measures to require documentation accompanying LMOs that are intended for direct use as food, feed or processing, that clearly identifies that they “may contain” LMOs and are not intended for intentional introduction into the environment. A contact point for additional information is also required to accompany this statement.

WHAT'S NEW @ COTTONSEED.COM - Ricardo Silva reports the dollar is reaching record highs vs the Mexican peso in his latest report, issued 12/05/2003.  That’s not good news for cottonseed meal customers there.  See his complete report in the Mexico Consultant’s Report section of the web site…..Meal exports  surged in the Weekly Export Sales Report (Nov. 27) for cottonseed meal, perhaps in anticipation of the strengthening dollar vs the peso.  Check out all the latest export sales activity in Statistics section…..Register in the cottonseed message board section so you may interact with potential customers.  Registration is free…..Monthly supply and demand data for cottonseed, by region, has been recently updated and is also available on the Cottonseed Crushing Data, by Week page of the Statistics section.

COTTONSEED CRUSH PACE PICKING UP - Weekly cottonseed crushings have been higher than year-ago levels during the past four reporting periods, according to NCPA’s weekly crush report released December 5.  Crush for the last week of November, for example, totaled 59,555 tons compared to 52,415 during a similar period a year earlier. The chart below shows cottonseed crushings compared to their five-year average and points out the slow start to this crush season.  However, crushings in November have been stronger than a year ago.  Weekly crushings from this point in the season forward will need to average 60,000 tons in order to reach the 2.7 million ton level.  Should they average 55,000 tons, the season crush total will approach 2.6 million tons.  Year-to-date crush figures are nearly identical for this season and last, at just over 800,000 tons.  The five-year average cottonseed crush total is 2.72 million tons.

BIOTERRORISM ACT DEADLINE NEARS - The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002, known commonly as the "Bioterrorism Act" requires FDA to publish four sets of rules.  The first rule governs the registration requirements of food/feed/feed ingredient and pet food facilities and was published as an interim final rule on October 10.  The second rule governs prior notification of imports of food/feed/feed ingredients and pet foods and was published the same day.  These rules must be complied with on and after December 12. Information on how to comply can be obtained from the FDA Bioterrorism web page at http://www.fda.gov/oc/bioterrorism/bioact.html.  Nearly allseed houses, oil mills, feed ingredient suppliers, and warehouses need to register with FDA by the deadline. The import notification rules require FDA notification prior to importing any of the above affected categories, regardless of whether the products are intended for consumption.  However, there are some narrowly-defined exemptions.  Notice times vary with transport method.  Also, the manufacturer of the products to be imported must register with FDA using the same registration rules mentioned above. Although FDA has announced a four-month regulatory discretion period for compliance, firms and facilities are urged to attempt compliance by the deadlines of December 12.

CANADIAN BEEF EXPORTS HIGHER TO THE US - Canadian beef exports to the US are higher to the US, despite restrictions on what beef products can be exported from Canada. According to the Canadian Beef Export Federation, the volume of exports of Canadian beef to the US is close to normal levels. Canada exported about 60,000 metric tons of boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age to the US between Sept. 10 and Nov. 8, Canadian data shows. Weekly shipments have been between 7^% and 40% above year-ago levels and Canadian beef shipments to Mexico are about to double what they were in 2002. (Source: TX Cattle Feeders Assoc, 12/05/2003)

MOVING? - Please send all change of address information to: National Cottonseed Products Association, 104 Timber Creek Drive, Suite 200, Cordova, TN  38018, or email to info@cottonseed.com.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE NCPA....

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© National Cottonseed Products Association, Inc.

December 10, 2003