The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 15 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
On Jan. 15 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to increase its fees for voluntary dairy grading and inspection services. Fees would increase by 15 percent for fiscal year 2013, and 5 percent for FY 2014. The proposal would result in an overall cost increase of less than $0.0004 per pound of dairy product graded, said AMS. The agency has been trying to reduce costs, it said, including through systems automation, giving it the ability to employ only two staff members to issue over 20,000 export certificates in FY 2011, for example. But salary increases, inflation, and technology costs have resulted in the need to increase fees, AMS said. Comments are due by Feb. 19.
On Jan. 14 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
On Jan. 11 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is deregulating eight more pests at the port of entry, after the National Plant Board agreed with its proposals to change their status to non-actionable. The eight deregulated pests include (pests marked by an asterisk are still quarantine pests in Hawaii and/or territories):
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing changes to eight standards for grades of frozen vegetables to revise grade names, certain quality standards, contact information, and typographical errors. Grade standards covered by these proposed revisions are: frozen asparagus, frozen lima beans, frozen speckled butter beans, frozen cooked squash, frozen summer squash, frozen sweet potatoes, frozen turnip greens with turnips, and frozen mixed vegetables. For each of these grade standards, AMS would replace dual grade names with single letter designations, so “U.S. Grade A” or “U.S. Fancy” would become “U.S. Grade A” only; “U.S. Grade B” or “U.S. Extra Standard” would become “U.S. Grade B” only, etc. Comments on the proposed rule are due by March 18.
The Grain Inspectors, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is proposing to increase its inspection and weighing fees for grain exports. According to GIPSA, the increase in fees is necessary because current levels will not cover projected costs for fiscal years 2012-17. Both local and national fees would be affected. Comments are due March 15.
On Jan. 10 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for Jan. 4-10: