The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is now extending until the end of the year its temporary policy allowing electronic submission of phytosanitary certificates and PPQ 203 forms in the ACE Document Image System (DIS), the agency said by email Sept. 21. The policy has been in place since April 8, through renewals extending the initial period covered when first implemented (see 2005180047). “To help facilitate the clearance of imported plants and plant products during the COVID-19 pandemic, APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will continue to accept electronically produced versions of phytosanitary certificates through December 31, 2020,” APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s new eFile online permitting system is up and running, a Sept. 22 agency email said. “APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) is excited to announce the new APHIS eFile PPQ 587 plants and plant products application for fresh fruits and vegetables permits,” the email said. The new system's benefits include that permit requests can have multiple countries per application, and that permits will be issued the same day as the request, APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “is making great progress in implementing electronic country to country transfer of plant phytosanitary certificates” through what is known as the ePhyto hub, Nicole Russo, APHIS director-Quarantine Policy, Analysis, and Support, said Sept. 17 during the online conference of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. Currently, 42 countries, including Mexico and all of Europe, exchange “ePhytos,” and that number is expected to “increase significantly,” she said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its regulations on the prevention of bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis, including provisions on importation of cattle, it said in a final rule released Sept. 16. As proposed in 2016, APHIS will scrap the current two-tiered system of general import requirements for most countries and country-specific requirements for Canada, Mexico and Ireland. In its place, APHIS is establishing a system that classifies regions of the world based on their prevalence of brucellosis or bovine tuberculosis and whether they have a program for control of the diseases that meets certain standards. Conditions on importation of cattle and bison will correspond to the classification level of the region from where the cattle or bison is exported, ranging from Level I to V for bovine tuberculosis and I to III for brucellosis, APHIS said. The new regulations also establish a process to allow regions to request a particular classification, it said. The final rule takes effect Oct. 19.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Aug. 26 announced that it has reached a final decision that Romania is free of highly pathogenic avian influenza and Newcastle disease. The change in disease status eliminates certain requirements for importation of carcasses, meat, parts or products of carcasses, and eggs (other than hatching eggs) of poultry, game birds or other birds from Romania. It took effect Aug. 26.
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The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is no longer planning to begin Oct. 1 enforcement of Lacey Act import declaration requirements on 29 new tariff lines, the agency announced recently in an email. The delay “will give the trade community time to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for this change,” it said. The agency said in March it planned to implement the sixth phase of Lacey Act import requirements in October (see 2003300011).
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 working to streamline the application process for soil import permits, it said in an emailed bulletin. “Beginning later this summer, soil import permit applicants” using Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Form 525 “will no longer have to sign a compliance agreement for the chemical or physical analysis of regulated imported soil or imported soil for decontamination by incineration or landfill disposal,” APHIS said. “Instead, APHIS will incorporate the safeguarding requirements previously contained in these compliance agreements into the soil import permit conditions. This action will eliminate duplicate paperwork and help reduce the time it takes APHIS to issue soil import permits,” it said. APHIS will announce the start date for the new procedures in a future message, it said.