The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is beginning its annual certification visits for greenhouse facilities that wish to export Pelargonium spp. unrooted plant cuttings, it said Sept. 21. The certifications are required for any shipments from countries where Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is known to occur, APHIS said. The agency plans to complete inspections by March 1, 2023, for facilities shipping during the 2022-23 season, it said. Those interested in scheduling a certification visit should send official correspondence from the National Plant Protection Organization of the exporting country to APHIS by Oct. 15, APHIS said.
CBP and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program will on Sept. 26 begin risk-based sampling (RBS) for banana and plantain shipments at U.S. ports of entry, APHIS said. “There are no changes to the required entry paperwork; however, PPQ and CBP recommend that trade entities file entry paperwork prior to arrival if possible and include APHIS Core Message Set data to ensure their shipments are processed according to RBS procedures,” APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service hopes to begin implementation of its seventh and penultimate phase of Lacey Act declaration requirements toward the end of 2023, the agency’s Erin Otto said Sept. 19, speaking at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington. Otto said APHIS hopes to complete phase seven implementation in the summer of 2024, at which point the agency will pivot to the final phase eight.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2225 Aug. 30, containing 176 ABI records and 35 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The changes involve tariff flag indicators for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Core message set, it said in a CSMS message.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing bovine tuberculosis classifications for eight Mexican states, it said in a notice released Aug. 25. Under the proposal, the state of Sonora would be Level II; the Yucatán Peninsula region (states of Yucatán and Quintana Roo, and part of the state of Campeche), the Huasteca region (parts of the states of Puebla, Veracruz, and Hidalgo), part of the state of Chihuahua, and part of the state of Durango would be under the more restrictive Level III; and part of the state of Coahuila, part of the state of Nuevo León, and the state of Tamaulipas would be Level IV, one level below the most restrictive category. Comments are due Oct. 25.
CBP created Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2224 Aug. 18, containing 155 ABI records and 33 Harmonized Tariff Schedule records. The changes involve tariff flag indicators for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Core message set, it said in a CSMS message.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released a new list of fruit and vegetable names to use for verifying spellings in ACE filings using the agency’s PGA message set, it said Aug. 9. “The list provides genus, species, subspecies, and variety names (PG05) along with corresponding common names (PG17),” APHIS said. “This list does not represent commodities that may or may not be admissible but provides the acceptable spellings for listed names and provides the corresponding Integrated Taxonomic Information Systems (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN),” the agency said. “This list is not all-encompassing; if the genus, species, subspecies, or variety does not appear on this list, use the format that appears on the associated phytosanitary certificate and commercial invoice.”
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Partner government agencies listed several new rulemakings in the spring 2022 Unified Agenda involving trade. FDA added new proposals on prior notice requirements and canned tuna standards, and indicated a final rule on traceability requirements for high risk foods is imminent. The CDC said it will propose changes to its dog import requirements, and USDA added a new proposed rule on its user fees.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: