On Nov. 18 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is amending a duty refund program for wool importers to allow foreign-trade zone users to qualify for the program, it said (here). Importers that use worsted wool to manufacture suits, suit-type jackets, and trousers for men and boys in FTZs before exporting them into U.S. customs territory and paying duties on the imported wool will now be eligible for a refund equal to the difference between the duty in effect at the time of importation and the duty that would have been in effect under a tariff-rate quota that expired in 2014. Likewise, FTZ users that use imported wool yarn, wool fiber or wool top will now be eligible for a duty refund to compensate for the 2014 expiration of a duty suspension for the products. Both refund programs were implemented by a final rule issued in 2015 (see 1503060070). USDA is also amending both of these programs to allow the owner of worsted wool, wool yarn, wool fiber or wool top to claim refunds if they owned it at the time it was cut and sewn, regardless of whether the person actually did the cutting and sewing.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #9 for upland cotton will be established on Nov. 24, allowing importation of 14,034,414 kilograms (64,459 bales) (here). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Feb. 21, 2017, and entered into the U.S. by May 22, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period June through August, the most recent three months for which data are available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a list (here) 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.
On Nov. 17 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Nov. 17 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.
Meat and poultry establishments may voluntarily adopt the recently changed Food and Drug Administration nutrition facts label format while the Food Safety and Inspection Service considers its own nutrition labeling update, FSIS said Nov. 16 (here). “As long as the information on the labels is still truthful and not misleading, FSIS will not find noncompliance if companies use the FDA format,” it said. “When FSIS publishes a final rule to update the Nutrition Facts label format for meat and poultry products, companies would have to comply with that final rule by the effective date and will no longer be able to use the FDA format if it is different from the FSIS format.” FDA finalized changes to its nutrition labeling format in May (see 1605200021). Comments on the new FSIS policy are due Dec. 16.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Nov. 16 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.
On Nov. 15 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Nov. 14 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports: