The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a notice (here) delaying until March 27 the effective date of a recent final rule allowing importation of lemons from northwest Argentina into the continental U.S. (here). The final rule, which was originally set to take effect Jan. 23 (see 1612230018), is being delayed to comply with a memorandum issued by the Trump administration to all executive branch agencies (see 1701230031).
On Jan. 23 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Jan. 20 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is placing new restrictions on importation of horses from South Korea (here) and poultry from Lebanon (here), it said. Restrictions on importation of horses and other equines from South Korea, implemented because of an outbreak of contagious equine metritis, takes effect retroactively as of May 7, 2015. Restrictions on imports of live poultry, poultry meat and other poultry products from Lebanon, put in place because of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, is effective retroactively to April 22, 2016.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service plans to loosen restrictions on importation of live bovines and bovine products from several countries, it said (here). The agency said it preliminarily concurs with the Organization for Animal Health’s decision to classify Costa Rica, Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Namibia, Romania and Spain as having negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Under a 2013 final rule, bovines and bovine products may be imported from Mexico, Canada, or regions of negligible or controlled risk for BSE, subject to certain conditions (see 13110403). Romania and Namibia are currently not listed as either negligible or controlled risk countries, according to a list on the APHIS website (here). Comments are due March 24.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is extending the comment period until March 24 on proposed changes to export requirements for certain commodities to allow for electronic filing, it said (here). AMS's proposal would require shippers of apple and grape exports to enter an Export Form Certificate number or a USDA-defined exemption code into the Automated Export System (AES). The proposal would also define “shipper,” shift the current file retention requirement from carriers to shippers, and require shippers to provide, upon request, copies of the certificates to AMS, the agency said in the proposal. Comments were originally due Jan. 4.
The Agricultural Marketing Service will not move forward with plans for U.S. grade standards for catfish and catfish products, it said (here). After consulting with industry, the agency decided there is no need for a voluntary AMS grading program because a similar program already exists under the National Marine Fisheries Service, AMS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 19 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables and flowers.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has preliminarily found Cyprus free of several diseases affecting swine and ruminants, it said (here). In response to a request from the Cypriot government, the agency found Cyprus is free of foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest, and swine vesicular disease, and as low risk for classical swine fever. If it confirms these findings, restrictions on importation of swine, ruminants, pork and pork products from Cyprus will be removed. Comments are due March 24.
On Jan. 19 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports: