The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Nov. 1 announced that Special Import Quota #2 for upland cotton will be established on Nov. 8, allowing importation of 12,807,185 kilograms (58,822 bales) of upland cotton, the same as for the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Feb. 5, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by May 6, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period June 2018 through August 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
After a review lasting less than two weeks of Poland's export protocols, the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has lifted import restrictions on pork from that country. Two establishments are excepted: Pork from those unnamed establishments cannot be imported unless it is cooked. The import restrictions, which began Oct. 18 (see 1810220017), were in place due to the risk of African Swine Fever, a disease that can affect feral hogs and domestic animals, but not people. The risk was seen as coming from several fresh pork-exporting facilities that might be located in a swine fever restricted zone. "We are retaining restrictions on raw product and heat treated, but not fully cooked, product from two establishments while we complete a more thorough review," APHIS said.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Oct. 25 announced that Special Import Quota #1 for upland cotton will be established on Nov. 1, allowing importation of 12,807,185 kilograms (58,822 bales) of upland cotton, the same as for the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Jan. 29, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by April 29, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period June 2018 through August 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The National Milk Producers Federation says that the farm aid package, designed to mitigate the effect of retaliatory tariffs, falls far short of compensating dairy farms and cooperatives for their losses. The payments have totaled only $127 million, according to a letter sent to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Oct. 23 and publicly released the next day, while losses are estimated to be somewhere between $1.17 billion and $1.5 billion. "The Department has indicated that a second payment may be made this year," Chairman Randy Mooney wrote. "We are eager to work with you on a plan that better reflects the struggles dairy producers across the country have faced due to the tariffs."
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service suspended entry of pork imports from Poland beginning Oct. 18 as APHIS reviews that country's export protocols, the agency said in a notice. "In order to give us time to ensure all Polish facilities that export pork and pork products to the U.S. are acting in accordance with our import requirements, we have suspended entry for all fresh and frozen pork from Poland until our review is completed," it said. The restrictions are due to the possibility that "several plants in Poland actively exporting fresh pork to the U.S. may be located within an [African Swine Fever] restricted zone," according to a separate notice sent by Geodis. There is not a "grace period for shipments that are currently in transit to the United States, and all shipments of fresh/frozen/chilled pork shipped from Poland to the United States should be refused entry," it said.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is revising its U.S. Standards for Grades for shelled and in-shell pecans to replace the term “midget” with “extra small,” it said. The final rule also removes from both standards references to plastic models of pecan kernels, and information on where the color standards may be examined. The changes take effect Dec. 10.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Oct. 4 announced that Special Import Quota #24 for upland cotton will be established on Oct. 11, allowing importation of 13,296,430 kilograms (61,069 bales) of upland cotton, the same as for the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Jan. 8, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by April 8, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period May 2018 through July 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a list of ongoing international sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO). Comments on the standards being considered may be submitted at any time, APHIS said.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Sept. 27 announced that Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established on Oct. 4, allowing importation of 13,296,430 kilograms (61,069 bales) of upland cotton, the same as for the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Jan. 1, 2019, and entered into the U.S. by April 1, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period May 2018 through July 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Sept. 20 announced that Special Import Quota #22 for upland cotton will be established on Sept. 27, allowing importation of 13,296,430 kilograms (61,069 bales) of upland cotton, the same as for the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 25, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by March 25, 2019. Special Import Quota #21 for upland cotton was established on Sept. 20, 2018, and applies to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 18, 2018, and entered into the U.S. not later than March 18, 2019. Each quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period May 2018 through July 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.