The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of non-precleared sand pears from South Korea into all U.S. ports, it said in a notice released March 12. Currently, non-precleared sand pears from the country can be imported only into the Port of Honolulu, and only fruit imported under an APHIS preclearance program is allowed into all ports. The non-precleared sand pears would be subject to the import conditions of the “systems approach” currently required for precleared fruit. Comments are due May 14.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Timor-Leste to its list of regions subject to import restrictions on pork and pork products because it is affected by African swine fever, it said in a notice released March 12. Restrictions take effect retroactively to Sept. 30, 2019.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced March 11 that Special Import Quota #21 for upland cotton will be established March 18, allowing importation of 8,408,469 kilograms (38,619 bales) of upland cotton, slightly down from 8,648,011 kilograms (39,720 bales) in the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than June 15, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Sept. 13, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the November 2020 through January 2021 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reopening the period for comments on potential regulations it is considering on the movement, including importation, of animals modified or developed by genetic engineering, it said in a notice March 8. Jointly issued in December by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Food Safety Inspection Service (see 2012230087), USDA's advance notice of proposed rulemaking contemplates that the APHIS would conduct assessments of genetically engineered animals, and FSIS would conduct pre-slaughter inspections. Importation and interstate movement would be subject to permitting requirements. USDA’s approach would be similar to recent regulations on the movement of genetically engineered plants (see 2005180023), with some differences, the ANPRM said. Comments are now due by May 7.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced March 4 that Special Import Quota #20 for upland cotton will be established March 11, allowing importation of 8,648,011 kilograms (39,720 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than June 8, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Sept. 6, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the October 2020 through December 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Feb. 25 that Special Import Quota #19 for upland cotton will be established March 4, allowing importation of 8,648,011 kilograms (39,720 bales) of upland cotton, down from 9,464,255 kilograms (43,469 bales) in the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than June 1, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Aug. 30, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the October 2020 through December 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Feb. 18 that Special Import Quota #18 for upland cotton will be established Feb. 25, allowing importation of 9,464,255 kilograms (43,469 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than May 25, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Aug. 23, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the September 2020 through November 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Feb. 11 that Special Import Quota #17 for upland cotton will be established Feb. 18, allowing importation of 9,464,255 kilograms (43,469 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than May 18, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Aug. 16, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the September 2020 through November 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Feb. 4 that Special Import Quota #16 for upland cotton will be established Feb. 11, allowing importation of 9,464,255 kilograms (43,469 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than May 11, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Aug. 9, 2021. CCC had announced Special Import Quota #15 on Jan. 28. Established Feb. 4, the quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than May 4, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by Aug. 2, 2021. The quotas are equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the September 2020 through November 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Jan. 21 that Special Import Quota #14 for upland cotton will be established on Jan. 28, allowing importation of 9,464,255 kilograms (43,469 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than April 27, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by July 26, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the September 2020 through November 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.