The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is restricting imports of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, avian hatching eggs, unprocessed avian products and byproducts, and certain fresh poultry products from five more zones in Canada, it announced May 12. That comes on top of the 35 zones already restricted by APHIS over the past three months due to concern over highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to loosen requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Ireland, it said in a notice. APHIS intends to reclassify Ireland as having negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the Organization for Animal Health, the agency said. Ireland is currently classified as undetermined for BSE risk, and imports of bovines and bovine products from the country are prohibited. Comments are due June 14.
Canada will “soon” resume exports of table stock potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the contiguous U.S., after U.S. and Canada reached “an understanding” that will include new import requirements, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said March 24. “Canada will lift its ban while APHIS plans to publish a federal order outlining additional required mitigations to protect the U.S. potato industry,” APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will classify the state of Sonora, Mexico, as having Level I risk for bovine brucellosis, it said in a notice released March 4. Level I is the least restrictive level in APHIS’ bovine importation scheme, and allows imports of sexually intact bovines without a certificate or other restrictions. Sonora imports under this classification may be authorized beginning March 7. APHIS classified Canada as Level I for both bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis in December (see 2112230023), after scrapping its country-specific import requirements for Canada, Mexico and Ireland in 2020 (see 2009160018).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will transition its PPQ 585 timber permits and PPQ 546 postentry quarantine permits to its online eFile system beginning March 7, it said. “Effective March 7, 2022, PPQ will no longer issue new or renewed Postentry Quarantine or Timber permits through ePermits. You will need to submit a new application using APHIS eFile,” APHIS said. “All active Postentry Quarantine and Timber permits issued through ePermits will remain valid until permit expiration.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Inspections and imports of fresh avocado from Mexico have resumed, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced Feb. 18. The agency previously suspended avocado export program operations in the Mexican state of Michoacan, the only Mexican state currently authorized for the export of avocados, on Feb. 11 after a threatening phone call was received by an APHIS official conducting an inspection (see 2202140039).
Inspections and imports of fresh avocado from Mexico have resumed, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced on Feb. 18. The agency previously suspended avocado export program operations in the Mexican state of Michoacan, the only Mexican state currently authorized for the export of avocados, on Feb. 11 after a threatening phone call was received by an APHIS official conducting an inspection.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it will continue to allow importers to file electronic copies of phytosanitary certificates for plant commodities until Sept. 30, it said Feb. 14, as expected (see 2202070048). The agency had previously delayed the end the policy of accepting copies Jan. 1 (see 2112100059), before postponing again until March 31 (see 2112290032). The policy is in place to mitigate challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America asked for the latest extension. "Starting October 1, 2022, APHIS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will accept only original phytosanitary certificates and forms for plant commodities," APHIS said.