USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has added two new features to its recent updates page detailing system enhancements for Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements. The page now includes an updated link to the Approved Facility Updates Reference Document and a new tab for ACIR system enhancements, APHIS said in a Jan. 12 emailed newsletter on ACIR.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is asking the Office of Management and Budget to allow the agency to extend by three years its information collection activities related to a "universal 'common forms' permit package" (four different collection uses now combined into one form) and the inclusion of pork-filled pasta products in this permit package instead of it having its own information collection activity. Importers, exporters and port personnel are among those who would have an interest in this information collection, according to APHIS. Comments on this information collection are due by March 9, the agency said in a Federal Register notice.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has released a draft pest risk assessment on imports of Prunus spp. cuttings from Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Comments on the draft pest risk assessment for the commercially produced, dormant and uprooted cuttings for planting are due by Feb. 3. The Prunus genus includes species of deciduous trees and shrubs, such as cherry, almond, peach, plum and apricot trees.
CBP issued 87,684 agriculture emergency action notifications (EANs) in FY 2025, which is 11% higher than FY 2024 and 25% higher than FY 2023, according to data recently updated on CBP's website.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has updated its website on New World screwworm (NWS) to centralize the information available across the federal government, the agency said Nov. 21. Collaborating agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA, EPA, DHS and the departments of Energy, State and the Interior.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the temporary suspension of the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM 15) hyphen requirement will end on Dec. 31 of this year.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 30 vacated a decision from USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to "switch to a new system for mitigating the risk of a pest outbreak caused by imported Chilean table grapes." Judge Amir Ali held that the action was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (California Table Grape Commission v. U.S. Dep't of Ag., D.D.C. # 24-02645).
CBP expects to continue to implement new Section 232 tariffs should the government shutdown persist past the effective date of any new tariffs, officials said on an Oct. 1 call with the trade to discuss the government shutdown. CBP also plans to implement expected tariffs, such as the ones for lumber and furniture that take effect Oct. 14, without delays.
As the trade braces for a possible government shutdown amid the budget impasse in Congress, federal agencies are dusting off their contingency plans while the trade association representing customs brokers continues to offer suggestions about which activities are deemed essential for trade compliance.