The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is reopening the comment period of its July 2011 notice that advised the public that APHIS had determined that 41 taxa of plants for planting are quarantine pests and 107 taxa of plants for planting are hosts of 13 quarantine pests and therefore should be added to its new lists of taxa of plants for planting whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis. The notice also made available to the public for review and comment data sheets that detail the scientific evidence APHIS evaluated in making its determinations.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a proposed rule to allow the importation into the continental United States of mangoes from Australia that would require, as a condition of entry, that they are produced in accordance with a systems approach employing a combination of mitigation measures for the fungus Cytosphaera mangiferae and would have to be inspected prior to exportation from Australia and found free of this disease. The mangoes would have to be imported in commercial consignments only and would have to be treated by irradiation to mitigate the risk of insect pests. The mangoes would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration that the conditions for importation have been met. Written comments are due by December 27, 2011.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, effective November 25, 2011 , is amending its regulations to allow the importation into the continental United States of baby kiwi fruit from Chile, subject to a systems approach. Under this systems approach, the fruit must be grown in a place of production that is registered with the Government of Chile and certified as having a low prevalence of Brevipalpus chilensis.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a proposed rule to amend its regulations concerning the importation of plants and plant products by establishing the controlled import permit as a single type of authorization for the importation into the United States of otherwise prohibited or restricted plant material for experimental, therapeutic, or developmental purposes.
On October 14, 2011, Representative Cooper (D-TN) introduced H.R. 3210, the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness (RELIEF) Act. If enacted, the bill would amend the Lacey Act to exempt its application to pre-2008 plant imports and products. It would also reduce declaration requirements for tree products, require a certification process for legal plants and products, require adequate funding for the processing of declarations, etc.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a notice advising the public that on October 17, 2011, it would implement a risk-based sampling approach for the inspection of imported plants for planting. In its previous approach, APHIS inspected 2% of consignments of imported plants for planting regardless of previous evidence of the risk posed. The risk-based sampling and inspection approach will allow APHIS to target high-risk plants for planting for more extensive inspection to help ensure that plants for planting infested with quarantine pests do not enter the U.S., while providing a speedier inspection process for lower-risk plants for planting. In addition, for taxa of plants for planting that pose an extremely low risk, APHIS is establishing a Propagative Monitoring and Release Program under which consignments of those taxa will be periodically monitored but not every consignment will be inspected. USDA press release (dated 10/20/11) available here.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is soliciting public comments on standards to be considered for APHIS' annual notice informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standard-setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO). International standard (defined in 19 USC 2578b) is any standard, guideline, or recommendation: (1) adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) on food safety; (2) developed under the auspices of the OIE regarding animal health and welfare, and zoonoses; (3) developed under the auspices of the IPPC Secretariat in cooperation with NAPPO onplant health; or (4) established by or developed under any other international organization agreed to by NAFTA or WTO member countries.
Officials at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service state that after a paper Lacey Act Declaration (PPQ 505) for imported plants and plant products is submitted to APHIS, it must be retained by the importer of record or filer for a five year period. There is no similar requirement of importers of record/entry filers for the electronic Lacey Act Declaration submitted to APHIS via U.S. Customs and Border Protection's ABI system, as CBP itself will fulfill the five-year record retention requirement.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has sent a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. Under the proposed rule, countries would be classified as either negligible risk, controlled risk, or undetermined risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in bovines and bovine products. Some commodities would be allowed importation into the U.S. regardless of the BSE classification of the country of export. Other commodities would be subject to importation restrictions or prohibitions based on the type of commodity and the BSE classification of the country. The criteria for country classification and commodity import would be closely aligned with those of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). This rulemaking would also address public comments received in response to a September 2008 request for comments regarding certain provisions of an APHIS January 2005 final rule.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently posted the presentations used at the September 22-23, 2011 Trade Support Network plenary meeting in Arlington, VA. The postings include presentations given by CBP, APHIS, FDA, FSIS, USCG and the TSN Trade Leadership Council (TLC). This ITT summary is being reissued as an editing error dropped the text on M1.