The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (here) and the Centers for Disease Control (here) issued concurrent final rules amending their regulations related to the Select Agents and Toxins List. Though they made no changes to the actual list in their update, which is required every two years, they added regulatory provisions to address the inactivation of select agents, address biocontainment and biosafety, and clarify regulatory language concerning security, training, incident response and records, APHIS said. “These changes will increase the usability of the select agent regulations as well as providing for enhanced program oversight,” APHIS said.
On Jan. 18 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending its organic livestock and poultry production requirements to add new provisions on livestock handling and transport for slaughter and avian living conditions, it said (here). The agency’s final rule also expands and clarifies “existing requirements covering livestock care and production practices and mammalian living conditions," AMS said. The changes take effect March 20.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing changes to nutrition labeling requirements for meat (including fish of the order Siluriformes, i.e., catfish) and poultry products (here). The proposed rule would align FSIS nutrition labels with the new labeling scheme adopted by the Food and Drug Administration in May (see 1605200021). FSIS would revise the information required on nutrition facts labels, adopt FDA's new format with larger type for calorie and serving information, and adopt new reference values for pregnant and lactating women and children under age 4. Single serving size and dual column labeling would be required for certain containers, and recordkeeping required for some nutrients. Comments are due March 20.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 17-18 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 is proposing major changes to its regulations on importation, interstate movement and release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The proposed rule (here) would modify current definitions of what is a GE organism, as well as the criteria used by APHIS to judge whether it regulates GE organisms based on the risk of introduction of plant pests or noxious weeds. Time-limited import permits would be eliminated, as would current notification procedures. Record-keeping requirements would be increased. Comments on the proposal are due May 19.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Moldova to its list of regions subject to import restrictions on pork and pork products because they are affected by African swine fever, it said (here). Restrictions take effect retroactively to Oct. 4, 2016.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of fresh star apple fruit from Vietnam into the continental U.S., it said in a notice (here) announcing its decision. Importation will be subject to conditions to mitigate risks of introducing plant pests or noxious weeds, APHIS said. The notice takes effect Jan. 19.
On Jan. 17 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to end exemptions that allow the use in organic products of 11 non-organic substances, it said (here). Exemptions would end for lignin sulfonate, furosemide, magnesium carbonate, Chia, dillweed oil, frozen galangal, inulin, frozen lemongrass, chipotle chile peppers, Turkish bay leaves and whey protein concentrate. AMS is considering the changes as part of its 2017 sunset review of the organic National List. Comments are due March 20.