The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule to amend 7 CFR Part 319 in order to establish specific requirements for the importation of cut flowers that are hosts of chrysanthemum white rust1 (CWR) from regions where the disease is known to occur, etc.
On June 16, 2005, the Senate Appropriations Committee favorably reported its version of H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), etc.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule which would amend the irradiation treatment regulations at 7 CFR Parts 301, 305, 318 and 319 in order to revise certain approved doses for irradiation treatment of imported fruits and vegetables.
This notice serves as a reminder to the trade that effective September 16, 2005, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will begin requiring that all1 imported regulated wood packaging material (regulated WPM) imported under general permit be appropriately treated and marked to comply with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) standard entitled, "Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade" (ISPM 15).
According to an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) fact sheet on the second confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the U.S., the BSE positive cow was born and raised in a herd in Texas, approximately 12 years old, non-ambulatory and did not enter the human food or animal feed chain. (APHIS fact sheet, dated June 2005, available at http://www.usda.gov/documents/FactSheetbse062905.pdf)
The House Ways and Means Committee has issued a press release announcing that on June 30, 2005, it approved H.R. 3045, legislation to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement. (See today's ITT, 05070505, for BP summary of the Senate's passage of the CAFTA implementation bill.)(House Ways and Means press release, dated 06/30/05, available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news.asp?formmode=release&id=321.)
On June 30, 2005, the Senate passed S. 1307, a bill to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement. Washington Trade Daily reports that CAFTA implementation legislation faces a tougher battle in the House of Representatives. (Congressional Record, dated 06/30/05, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/r109/r109d30jn5.html; WTD dated 07/01/05, www.washingtontradedaily.com.)
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a notice announcing that its Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program will hold a public meeting on July 14, 2005 in Riverdale, MD in order to exchange information and receive input on the proposed Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and Tracking System (PCIT).
The Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a proposed rule which would revise transportation requirements for infectious substances, including regulated medical waste (RMW), to adopt new classification criteria and packaging requirements consistent with revised international standards and to clarify existing requirements to promote compliance.
On June 8, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2744, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act). H.R. 2744 would provide FY 2006 funding for, among things, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).