The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is finalizing changes to its regulations on the importation of peppers from South Korea, it said. The final rule increases the mesh size of the screening over vent openings in South Korean greenhouses from 0.6 mm to 1.6 mm, provided that sticky traps are used as an additional measure for pest monitoring. The change in mesh size was requested by the South Korean government. The new requirements take effect May 9.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on May 2 announced that Special Import Quota #2 for upland cotton will be established on May 9, allowing importation of 12,157,032 kilograms (55,836 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the last quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Aug. 6, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by Nov. 4, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period December 2018 through February 2019, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to amend its U.S. Standards for Grades of Apples to remove smooth net-like russeting as a grade-determining factor in the U.S. Extra Fancy, U.S. Fancy and U.S. No. 1 grades for Fuji apples, it said. The proposal also would remove obsolete references to the location where color standards may be examined and purchased, AMS said. The changes also would affect the grade requirements under the Export Apple Act.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is considering allowing imports of mamey sapote, mombin, sapodilla and soursop fruits from Mexico. The agency is recommending in four pest risk analyses that imports be allowed subject to certain conditions, including phytosanitary treatment in the form of radiation, a phytosanitary certificate from the Mexican government and port of entry inspections. Comments on the draft pest risk analyses are due July 1.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may allow the importation of certain citrus fruits from China, it said in a notice. The agency has issued a draft pest risk analysis that recommends imports of pomelo, Nanfeng honey mandarin, ponkan, sweet orange, and Satsuma mandarin be allowed, with certain conditions including an import permit, phytosanitary certificate from the Chinese government, registration of production locations and packinghouses, and port of entry inspections, among other things. Comments on the draft pest risk analysis are due July 1.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending its National List of substances allowed and prohibited in organic products, it said. The final rule adds elemental sulfur to the National List for use in organic livestock production. It also reclassifies potassium acid tartrate from a non-agricultural substance to an agricultural substance and requires the organic form of the ingredient when commercially available. The changes take effect May 30.
The Agricultural Marketing Service set its 2019 fees for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing and laboratory services for meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, cotton and tobacco, in a notice. Covered programs include cotton classification under cotton futures legislation (7 CFR 27); cotton classing, testing and standards (7 CFR 28); grading and inspection for approved plants and standards for grades of dairy products (7 CFR 58); inspection, certification and standards for fresh fruits, vegetables and other products (7 CFR 51); processed fruits and vegetables (7 CFR 52); meats, prepared meats and meat products (7 CFR 54); livestock, meat and other agricultural commodities (7 CFR 62); agricultural and vegetable seeds (7 CFR 75); grading of shell eggs (7 CFR 56); grading of poultry and rabbit products (7 CFR 70); services and general information (7 CFR 91); and tobacco inspection (7 CFR 29). Effective dates of fee changes range from Jan. 1, 2019, to Oct. 1, 2019, depending on the product.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on April 25 announced that Special Import Quota #1 for upland cotton will be established on May 2, allowing importation of 12,157,032 kilograms (55,836 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the last quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than July 30, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by Oct. 28, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period December 2018 through February 2019, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Agricultural Marketing Service recently issued new guidance on importation of hemp and hemp seeds. The 2018 Farm Bill, passed in December, removed hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s schedule of Controlled Substances, AMS said in a notice. “This action removed hemp and hemp seeds from DEA authority for products containing THC levels not greater than 0.3 percent. Therefore, DEA no longer has authority to require hemp seed permits for import purposes,” it said. Hemp seeds can now be imported from Canada if they are accompanied by either a phytosanitary certification from the Canadian government to verify the origin of the seed and confirm no plant pests are detected, or a Federal Seed Analysis Certificate (SAC, PPQ Form 925) for hemp seeds grown in Canada, AMS said. For hemp seeds imported from countries other than Canada, the phytosanitary certificate is required. “Hemp seed shipments may be inspected upon arrival at the first port of entry by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to ensure USDA regulations are met, including certification and freedom from plant pests,” AMS said.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on April 18 announced that Special Import Quota #26 for upland cotton will be established on April 25, allowing importation of 12,157,032 kilograms (55,836 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the last quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than July 23, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by Oct. 21, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period December 2018 through February 2019, the most recent three months for which data is available.