The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Papua New Guinea 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 Sept. 29. Restrictions take effect retroactively to April 1, 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 24 that Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established Oct. 1, allowing importation of 2,342,753 kilograms (10,760 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 29, and entered into the U.S. by March 29, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released a notice Sept. 25 formally delaying its deadline for ACE filing of its “core” partner government agency (PGA) message set until January. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, APHIS has decided to delay implementation until January 25, 2021. On that date, APHIS intends to begin applying [Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS)] flags, which will alert filers, who opt to submit data electronically, whether APHIS import data is or may be required. Importers or brokers using ACE must enter APHIS-required import data when they receive an APHIS-specific HTS flag in order to complete their entry in the system,” the notice said. APHIS had announced the delay by email in June (see 2006300062).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s new eFile online permitting system is up and running, a Sept. 22 agency email said. “APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) is excited to announce the new APHIS eFile PPQ 587 plants and plant products application for fresh fruits and vegetables permits,” the email said. The new system's benefits include that permit requests can have multiple countries per application, and that permits will be issued the same day as the request, APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is now extending until the end of the year its temporary policy allowing electronic submission of phytosanitary certificates and PPQ 203 forms in the ACE Document Image System (DIS), the agency said by email Sept. 21. The policy has been in place since April 8, through renewals extending the initial period covered when first implemented (see 2005180047). “To help facilitate the clearance of imported plants and plant products during the COVID-19 pandemic, APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue to accept electronically produced versions of phytosanitary certificates through December 31, 2020,” APHIS said.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing a new research, promotion and information order on pecans, it said in a notice released Sept. 21. Under the proposed rule, the order would be funded by assessments of 2 cents per pound of “inshell” pecans, and 4 cents per pound of shelled pecans, that are imported into or produced in the U.S. Importers and producers of fewer than 50,000 pounds of inshell pecans per fiscal year, or 25,000 pounds of shelled pecans per fiscal year, would be exempt from the assessments. “The purpose of the program would be to strengthen the position of pecans in the marketplace, maintain and expand markets for pecans, and develop new uses for pecans,” AMS said. Comments are due Nov. 23.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “is making great progress in implementing electronic country to country transfer of plant phytosanitary certificates” through what is known as the ePhyto hub, Nicole Russo, APHIS director-Quarantine Policy, Analysis, and Support, said Sept. 17 during the online conference of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. Currently, 42 countries, including Mexico and all of Europe, exchange “ePhytos,” and that number is expected to “increase significantly,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 17 that Special Import Quota #22 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 24, allowing importation of 2,342,753 kilograms (10,760 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 22, and entered into the U.S. by March 22, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2020 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to amend its inspection regulations to expand situations wherein the agency will generically approve the labels of meat, poultry and egg products, it said in a proposed rule issued Sept. 14. If the proposed rule is adopted, FSIS would no longer need labels to be submitted for FSIS approval if they are (1) labels on products for export that deviate from FSIS requirements; (2) labels that list ingredients in the ingredients statement as being certified “organic” (e.g., organic garlic) under the Agricultural Marketing Service National Organic Program; (3) labels that display geographic landmarks, such as a foreign country's flag, monument, or map; (4) labels that make negative claims identifying the absence of certain ingredients or types of ingredients (e.g., statements such as “No MSG Added,” “Preservative Free,” “No Milk,” “No Pork,” or “Made Without Soy”); or (5) labels of products that receive voluntary FSIS inspection. FSIS is also proposing to “cease evaluating labels submitted to FSIS that are eligible for generic approval,” it said. Comments are due Nov. 13.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its regulations on the prevention of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis, including provisions on importation of cattle, it said in a final rule released Sept. 16. As proposed in 2016, APHIS will scrap the current two-tiered system of general import requirements for most countries and country-specific requirements for Canada, Mexico and Ireland. In its place, APHIS is establishing a system that classifies regions of the world based on their prevalence of brucellosis or bovine tuberculosis and whether they have a program for control of the diseases that meets certain standards. Conditions on importation of cattle and bison will correspond to the classification level of the region from where the cattle or bison is exported, ranging from Level I to V for bovine tuberculosis and I to III for brucellosis, APHIS said. The new regulations also establish a process to allow regions to request a particular classification, it said. The final rule takes effect Oct. 19.