CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is loosening requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Bolivia and the United Kingdom's zone of Jersey, it said in a notice released June 23. APHIS will reclassify them has having negligible risk, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the World Organization for Animal Health, the agency said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released on June 23 a notice listing ongoing international sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health, the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention and the North American Plant Protection Organization. Comments on the standards being considered may be submitted at any time, APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of baby kiwi fruit from France, it said June 22. 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,” APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the continental United States, subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments are accepted through Aug. 22.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will delay until Oct. 1 its new policy of requiring all importers of earthworms to obtain a permit, and allowing imports of earthworms for environmental release in the U.S. only from countries free of foot-and-mouth disease, the agency said June 17. The new requirements had been set to take effect July 1 (see 2205230014).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow importation of fresh oha leaves from Nigeria into the U.S., subject to certain phytostanitary requirements, it said in a notice published June 7. Comments are due Aug. 8.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is will allow importation of fresh avocado fruit from continental Ecuador into the continental United States, it said. Conditions for importation include a systems approach with production site registration, field sanitation, packinghouse procedures designed to exclude the quarantine pests and procedures for packing, storing and shipping the avocado fruit. Shipments must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the Ecuadorean government. Imports of Ecuadorean avocados are authorized as of May 26.
All importers of earthworms will need to obtain a permit beginning July 1, and imports of earthworms for environmental release in the U.S. will be allowed only from countries free of foot-and-mouth disease, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said May 23. In addition to a PPQ 526 pest permit, earthworm importers will also need to “comply with rearing and shipping requirements,” APHIS said. “This new policy applies to all earthworm species and will help to prevent the introduction and spread of potentially harmful pests and plant and animal pathogens transmitted from imported earthworms,” it said.
All new and renewal permit applications for live animals and animal products, organisms and vectors must be filed in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s eFile system beginning May 31, the agency said May 16. “All applicants must use the [Veterinary Services Permitting Assistant (VSPA)] to start the permit application,” APHIS said. “Additionally, applicants with existing VS 16-6 permits must renew them using the VSPA to select materials that match the existing permit.” Amendments to existing permits must be requested in the system in which the permits exist, whether ePermits or eFile, APHIS said. “All permits in the ePermits system will remain valid until they expire.”