CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of fresh thyme, marjoram and oregano from Kenya, it said in a notice Jan. 17. 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” with the importation of the fresh herbs, APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the U.S., subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments will be accepted through March 18.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of fresh rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) from Mexico for consumption in the U.S., it said in a notice released Jan. 9. 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” with the importation of the fresh rhizomes of turmeric, APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the U.S., subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments will be accepted through March 11.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending entry requirements for the importation of certain plants from Canada to prevent the introduction of box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), the agency said in a Dec. 21 bulletin. APHIS said the moth was detected in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
USDA promoted Michael Watson to administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the agency said in a news release Dec. 20. Watson had been associate administrator since 2018, and served as acting administrator on “several occasions,” USDA said. The agency also named Georgette Furukawa chief of staff for the Agricultural Marketing Service. Furukawa previously was an adviser to the White House chief of staff's Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander team.
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Correction: An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service official said Dec. 5 that she doesn’t yet have a timeline for phase VIII of Lacey Act declaration enforcement, which she said is “hopefully the last phase” of the implementation of Lacey Act declaration requirements (see 2312050078).
Wrangling over the federal budget has delayed an announcement of the particulars of phase VII of Lacey Act enforcement, as well as the subsequent six-month countdown until new declaration requirements are enforced, said Erin Otto, part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Lacey Act team, during a webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of fresh, chilled or frozen beef from Paraguay, it said in a notice released Nov. 13. Effective Dec. 14, fresh beef from Paraguay may be imported under the same import conditions as imports of fresh beef from Uruguay and approved regions of Argentina and Brazil. APHIS said in an emailed news release that it expects the beef imports to be under 6,500 metric tons per year, "in part due to a quota Paraguay faces on beef exports to the United States."
The upcoming, near-certain government shutdown should last at least one week, and has a good chance of lasting three weeks or more, said Nicole Bivens Collinson, legislative counsel for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, speaking on a call hosted by the NCBFAA Sept. 29.