The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes April 1 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.
Amid an effort to streamline its website, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently updated information on clearance of agricultural products, it said April 1 in an emailed bulletin. The agency is replacing its Manual for Agricultural Clearance for CBP and APHIS personnel, which “no longer appears” on the APHIS website, and is instead providing the following links to issue-specific information:
The Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service are joining CBP’s import safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC). CBP finalized agreements with the three agencies on March 15, it said. The addition of FDA, FWS, and the NMFS brings the number of agencies participating in the center up to 11.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes March 31 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 U.S. export of fresh potatoes to Mexico should resume by May, following a recent Mexican government decision to formally permit the trade, said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. A rule published in the Mexican government Diario Oficial on March 19 (here) enables U.S. potato exports to continue, in accordance with a U.S.-Mexican Market Access Agreement struck in 2003, said Simpson. The Mexican final rule runs “parallel” with a recent Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) rule to authorize U.S. import of Mexican potatoes, said potato industry advocates. The APHIS rule will take effect on April 25 (see 14032513).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service worked to open $2.7 billion in foreign markets for U.S. exports in fiscal year 2013, and secured the release of about $34 million in agricultural goods that had been detained in foreign ports, said APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea on March 25. Those efforts contributed to a record $141 billion in farm exports in FY 2013, up $5 billion from last year.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes March 24 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 Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is adding South Korea to the list of countries eligible to export poultry to the U.S., after finding South Korean poultry regulations are equivalent to U.S. requirements. Effective May 27, slaughtered poultry or parts or other poultry products processed in certified South Korean establishments will be eligible for export to the United States. Any imported poultry must also meet Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requirements, said FSIS.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is authorizing importation of potatoes from Mexico, in a final rule that takes effect April 25. To qualify, Mexican potatoes must be produced using methods that mitigate the risk of pest introduction. They must be produced by a certified Mexican grower, packed in a registered packing house, cleaned and treated with a sprout inhibitor, and imported in commercial consignments. Mexican potatoes imported into the U.S. must also be inspected for quarantine pests and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the Mexican national plant protection office.
Beef from the European Union may once again be imported into the U.S., after the Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service’s final rule on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease) took effect on March 4 (see 13120320). Beef imports from the EU had been subject to a ban since 1997, following the mad cow disease scare in the United Kingdom.