USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 28 that Special Import Quota #24 for upland cotton will be established Oct. 5, allowing importation of 12,114,320 kg (55,640 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Jan. 2, 2024, and entered into the U.S. by April 1, 2024. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2023 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to amend its regulations that prevent introduction of African swine fever so that they also apply to importation of live dogs for resale. The proposed rule would mostly adopt, but with slightly different microchip requirements, a federal order issued in 2021 that set permit, microchip, documentation and other import requirements for imported dogs of less than 6 months of age that will be transferred to another person for more than de minimis consideration (this includes such transactions as retail sale, wholesale and fee-based adoption). Comments on the proposed rule are due Nov. 27.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of baby kiwi fruit from France, it said in a notice. An agency pest risk analysis found “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds,” APHIS said. Imports may be authorized beginning Sept. 26, APHIS said.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 21 that Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 28, allowing importation of 12,114,320 kg (55,640 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 26, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by March 25, 2024. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2023 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 14 that Special Import Quota #22 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 21, allowing importation of 12,114,320 kg (55,640 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 19, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by March 18, 2024. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2023 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its regulations on imports of horses. An APHIS final rule increases from 60 days to 90 days the period that horses exported from regions free from contagious equine metritis (CEM) are allowed to spend in a region affected by CEM and still enter the U.S. without testing. The final rule also requires import permits for horses transiting through CEM-affected regions, and adds requirements to ensure health certifications properly attest to the health of the imported horse. It also requires that horses transiting Central America or the West Indies “comply with the same regulations that apply to horses directly imported from these regions,” and adds requirements for shipping containers used in transporting horses. The final rule takes effect Oct. 16.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 7 that Special Import Quota #21 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 14, allowing importation of 12,114,320 kg (55,640 bales) of upland cotton, down from 12,641,719 kg (58,062 bales) in the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 12, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by March 11, 2024. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2023 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Aug. 31 that Special Import Quota #20 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 7, allowing importation of 12,641,719 kilograms (58,062 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 5, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by March 4, 2024. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the April through June 2023 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service will charge $350 for the 2024 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) year for each license issued to a person or firm by the USDA authorizing the importation of certain dairy articles that are subject to tariff-rate quotas set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, it said in a notice released Aug. 30. The new fee is unchanged from the fee charged for 2023 TRQ year licenses (see 2208090038).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising the appendices to its Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Regulation for the 2023 tariff-rate quota year, it said in a notice released Aug. 30. USDA is making the changes to reflect the cumulative annual transfers from Appendix 1 to Appendix 2 for certain dairy product import licenses permanently surrendered by licensees or revoked by the Foreign Agricultural Service.