The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 14 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 vacuum fumigation chamber at the Miami Plant Inspection Station will be decommissioned on Feb. 17, said the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The annual cost to maintain the chamber is “substantial,” but 99% of the fumigations performed in the chamber in fiscal year 2013 were done in natural atmospheric pressure and did not require a vacuum, said the agency’s Jan. 15 announcement. Vacuum fumigations can instead be performed by PPQ-approved fumigation contractors in close proximity to the Miami station, said APHIS. Removing the vacuum fumigation chamber will increase warehouse space at the Miami inspection station, and will result in a safer work environment without the need for methyl bromide gas storage, it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 13 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 announced changes Jan. 9 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 amending entry requirements for fresh blueberries from Chile. The agency on Dec. 24 began requiring methyl bromide fumigation of blueberry imports from Chilean regions VI, VII and VIII (O'Higgins, Maule, and Bio Bio). In response to a request from Chile's Servicio Agricola Ganadero, APHIS on Jan. 9 said it will also allow fumigation to occur at the Ports of Elizabeth, N.J.; Long Beach, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; Wilmington, Del.; and Philadelphia, Pa. APHIS also clarified that shipments that aren’t from the affected Chilean regions and don’t require fumigation will still be subject to an increased rate of inspection at the port of export. The requirements were initially put in place to prevent the spread of European Grapevine Moth (EGVM) (Lobesia botrana) recently found in Chilean blueberry orchards, said APHIS (see 13122616.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Jan. 8 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 announced changes Jan. 7 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 announced changes Jan. 6 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.
Several agencies with a hand in import/export regulation issued their plans for new regulations in the Fall 2013 Unified Agenda. The Food and Drug Administration is planning to issue proposed and final rules on food and drug facility registrations and sanitary transport of food in 2014. The Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is set to propose a fee hike for agricultural quarantine and inspection services at ports of entry. The Environmental Protection Agency will propose changes to its regulations on import and export of hazardous materials, and will finalize regulations on composite wood formaldehyde emissions and exports of cathode ray tubes.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Dec. 30-31 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.