International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 18-22 in case they were missed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service published a list of ongoing international sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), and the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO). Comments on the standards being considered may be submitted at any time, APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has created a webpage with information on new requirements for importation of tomatoes and peppers to prevent the introduction of tomato brown rugose fruit virus. Effective Nov. 22, APHIS is setting new inspection and certification requirements for tomatoes and Capsicum peppers from Canada, Mexico, Israel, and the Netherlands, as well as certification requirements for tomato propagative materials from all countries.
Partner government agencies list several new regulations on their lists of upcoming rulemakings in the Fall 2019 Unified Agenda. The Food and Drug Administration says it intends to propose new recordkeeping requirements for high-risk foods, and again lists proposed rules to revise written assurance requirements under its Food Safety Modernization Act regulations. The Fish and Wildlife Service intends to expand its list of ports designated for importation of wildlife, and the Commerce Department is set to modify its licensing requirements for steel imports to monitor transshipment through Canada and Mexico.
CBP will perform more inspections on “imported tomato and pepper fruit, seed lots and transplants entering at all U.S. ports of entry beginning Friday, Nov. 22, to prevent the introduction of Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus and protect the multi-billion dollar U.S. tomato and pepper production industry," the agency said in a news release. The increased inspections are a result of a Nov. 15 federal order from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The federal order restricts "imports of tomato and pepper seed lots and transplants from all countries as well as restrictions on tomato and pepper fruit consignments imported from Mexico, Canada, Israel, and the Netherlands," CBP said. APHIS will require that "all imported tomato and pepper seed lots along with other propagative plant materials be tested and/or certified free of the disease" and "all tomato and pepper fruit commercial shipments imported from Mexico, Israel, Canada and the Netherlands to be inspected and certified free of disease symptoms." According to a notice from CBP's Laredo, Texas, field office posted by a local brokers association, "the order will increase inspections and document verifications at time of entry from Mexico, Canada, Israel, and Netherlands."
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is loosening requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Nicaragua, it said in a notice. APHIS will reclassify the country as having negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the World Organization for Animal Health, the agency said. Nicaragua was previously classified as having controlled risk of BSE, a category for which imports face tighter restrictions.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service may allow the importation of carrots from South Korea, it said in a notice. The agency has issued a draft pest risk analysis that recommends that imports be allowed, with certain conditions, including phytosanitary certificates from the South Korean government, registration of production locations, washing and disinfection requirements, and port of entry inspections, among other things. Comments on the draft pest risk analysis are due Jan. 10.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service finalized rules to allow imports of Chinese poultry products from birds slaughtered in China, it said in a notice. Slaughtered poultry processed in certified Chinese establishments will be eligible for export to the U.S., subject to all other applicable requirements and re-inspection at the U.S. port of entry, FSIS said. As proposed (see 1706160035), eligible products would be limited to cooked poultry, it said." This final rule is consistent with the provisions of the proposed rule," the agency said. The rules will take effect Dec. 9.
CBP posted a new guidance on the factors the agency may consider for reducing penalties for violations of wood packaging material regulations. The agency also gave a range of possible mitigation amounts based on the number of violations that have occurred. CBP said in 2017 it would increase the frequency of penalties for WPM violations and no longer limit some penalties to parties with five or more violations (see 1709250038) to motivate better compliance with the rules.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to loosen requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Ecuador and Serbia, it said in a notice. APHIS intends to reclassify Ecuador as having controlled risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and Serbia as having negligible risk, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the World Organization for Animal Health, the agency said. Neither country is currently classified as having controlled or negligible risk of BSE. Comments are due Dec. 24.