The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Aug. 23 announced that Special Import Quota #18 for upland cotton will be established on Aug. 30, allowing importation of 13,543,665 kilograms (62,205 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 27, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 25, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period April 2018 through June 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Aug. 16 announced that Special Import Quota #17 for upland cotton will be established on Aug. 23, allowing importation of 13,543,665 kilograms (62,205 bales) of upland cotton, down from 13,673,800 kilograms (62,803 bales) during the previous quota period. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 20, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 18, 2019. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period April 2018 through June 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to increase the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments on imports collected under the Cotton Research and Promotion Program. The revised value in the direct final rule is $0.011905, an increase of $0.000395 per kilogram. The increase reflects a rise in the average price of Upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during the period January through December 2017. AMS's notice also includes a table of adjusted assessments corresponding to each Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading for which they are due. The changes take effect Oct. 16, unless adverse comments are received by Sept. 17.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending its poultry standards to eliminate the 8-week minimum age requirement for the “roaster and roasting chickens” class and increase the minimum weight for the class to 5.5 pounds. The final rule aligns AMS poultry standards with amended standards issued by the Food Safety Inspection Service in 2016 (see 1604120023). The AMS final rule took effect Aug. 6.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is asking for comments on the sanitary and phytosanitary standard (SPS) setting activities at the Codex Alimentarius Commission from June 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017, and June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2018. The notice provides a list of the standard-setting activities, as well as other types of Codex standards like commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice and revised texts. Attachment 1 to the notice sets forth the SPS standards under consideration or planned for consideration, as well as, for each SPS standard specified: (1) a description of the consideration or planned consideration of the standard; (2) whether the U.S. is participating or plans to participate in the consideration of the standard; (3) the agenda for U.S. participation, if any; and (4) the agency responsible for representing the U.S. with respect to the standard.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to revise U.S. Standards for Grades of canned lima beans, canned mushrooms, pickles and green olives. Among the modernizing changes made by the final rule are the removal of the term “midget” and its replacement with “petite,” in the standards, as well as the elimination of dual nomenclature terms like “U.S. fancy” so that only a single term is used in each standard (i.e., “Grade A” or “Grade B”). Comments are due Oct. 12.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on Aug. 9 announced Special Import Quota #16 for upland cotton will be established on Aug. 16, allowing importation of 13,673,800 kilograms (62,803 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 13, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 11, 2019. There is no change in amount from Special Import Quota #15 for upland cotton that was established on Aug. 9, applying to importation of upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 6, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 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 March 2018 through May 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.
A recent Agriculture Department report lists the specific food and agriculture tariff lines included in planned new Chinese tariffs (see 1808030013). "The supplementary tariffs are primarily on products which had not been previously impacted by the [Sections] 232 and 301 initial retaliatory duties, with the exception of eight [Harmonized System] codes," the USDA said in its Global Agricultural Information Network report. The new tariffs would apply in addition to the previously imposed retaliatory tariffs, it said. The new tariffs were announced in response to proposed U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods under Section 301 (see 1808010070).
The Agricultural Marketing Service will hold a referendum on whether to keep in place a promotion order on processed raspberries, it said in a notice. Under the promotion order, importers and domestic producers of above 20,000 pounds of processed raspberries per year must pay an assessment of 1 cent per pound to fund research and promotion activities. Voters in the referendum must produce or import in volumes above that threshold. The referendum will be held Sept. 10 through Oct. 5.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on July 26 announced Special Import Quota #14 for upland cotton will be established on Aug. 2, allowing importation of 13,673,800 kilograms (62,803 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Oct. 30, 2018, and entered into the U.S. by Jan. 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 March 2018 through May 2018, the most recent three months for which data is available.