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). Please note that the version of this notice published on October 17, 2011 was incomplete due to an editing error. See ITT's Online Archives 11100753 for complete version of this notice.
On October 6, 2011, Senators Akaka (D-HI) and Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Safeguarding American Agriculture Act of 2011. The bill would raise the priority of the agriculture mission within U.S. Customs and Border Protection by establishing an Office of Agriculture Inspection with its own Assistant Commissioner and requiring CBP to develop plans to improve agriculture specialist recruitment and retention.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective November 11, 2011, that amends the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow, under certain conditions, the importation into the U.S. of commercial consignments of tomatoes with stems from South Korea. The conditions include requirements for pest exclusion at the production site, fruit fly trapping inside and outside the production site, and pest-excluding packinghouse procedures. The tomatoes will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization (NPPO) of Korea with an additional declaration confirming that the tomatoes have been produced in accordance with the requirements. APHIS states that this action will allow for the importation of tomatoes with stems from Korea while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of injurious plant pests into the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the presentations used at the September 22-23, 2011 Trade Support Network meeting. The postings include presentations given by CBP, APHIS, FDA, FSIS, USCG and the TSN Trade Leadership Council (TLC). The 11 presentations are available here.
The Website for the International Trade Data System has posted (1) an updated ACE Portal Access Application (this form may be used for PGAs applying for access to ACE as well as to make any changes or updates to an existing PGA user account in ACE) and (2) an updated PGA Roster.
The International Trade Data System has issued a draft report for trade comment by November 15, 2011, on the results of three pilot studies conducted to validate the business case for using e-commerce data, such as global product numbers/codes and electronic product catalogs, to improve product visibility at international borders. The report shows that the three product sets on which the pilots focused - toys, cut flowers, and meat and poultry1 -- all benefited from the use of such data and could save importers millions of dollars. The report also states that a new ACE PGA Message Set will be implemented in 2012 to pass e-commerce data to participating government agencies (PGAs).
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for September 26-30, 2011 in case they were missed last week.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is announcing its decision to authorize the importation of fresh apricot, sweet cherry, and plumcot fruit from South Africa into the continental U.S. effective October 4, 2011. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, APHIS states that 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 via the importation of these fruits from South Africa.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is announcing its decision to authorize the importation of dragon fruit (multiple genera and species) from Thailand into the continental U.S. effective October 4, 2011. Based on the findings of a pest risk analysis, APHIS states that 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 via the importation of dragon fruit from Thailand. (D/N APHIS-2011-0047)
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a technical amendment, effective September 29, 2011, to correct its January 2010 final rule which amended the phytosanitary treatment regulations in 7 CFR Part 305 by removing the lists of approved treatments and treatment schedules from the regulations (so that they only reside in the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Treatment Manual on the internet). The final rule also harmonized and combined the requirements for performing irradiation treatment for imported articles, etc.