The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Cambodia and Vietnam to its list of regions subject to import restrictions on pork and pork products because they are affected by African swine fever, it said. Restrictions take effect retroactively to April 4, 2019, for Cambodia, and to Feb. 18, 2019, for Vietnam.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is tightening restrictions on importation of bovines and bovine products from Scotland, it said in a notice. APHIS is reclassifying Scotland as having controlled risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, after a case of BSE was discovered there in October 2018, the agency said. Scotland had been classified as having negligible risk of BSE. The reclassification takes effect retroactively Oct. 18, 2018.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of raspberries from Morocco into the continental U.S. as of July 24, it said in a notice. APHIS previously issued a proposed rule to allow the imports (see 1608260012), but since that proposal, the agency's regulations were changed to allow fruit and vegetable imports through notifications, it said. "With those changes to the regulations, we cannot issue the final regulations as contemplated in our August 2016 proposed rule and are therefore discontinuing that rulemaking without a final rule," it said. "Instead, it is necessary for us to finalize this action through the issuance of a notification." The allowed raspberries must be produced at a registered location under a “systems approach” to mitigate for the fungus Monilinia fructigena and would have to be inspected prior to exportation from Morocco and found free of this pest, APHIS said. The raspberries would have to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the Moroccan government, and would be subject to inspection at the U.S. port of entry.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service released a document that answers questions about using ACE for imports regulated by APHIS. The agency explains that APHIS data will eventually be required in ACE. "When an importer or broker selects a tariff code in ACE, the system notifies the user when APHIS data is or may be required," it said. "At this time, importers and brokers can bypass these flags and proceed without entering APHIS-required data in the system. Eventually, APHIS will enforce the flags, and users won’t be able to proceed until they enter APHIS-required import data via the message set. When ready, APHIS will announce the timeline for enforcing these flags."
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is planning to update the entry conditions for imports of citrus longhorned beetle (CLB) and Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) host plants from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, APHIS said in a notice. Those countries "have previously approved genera exempted from the category of plants Not Authorized Pending Pest Risk Analysis," it said. The exempt plants from those countries "would be admissible with the current import permit requirements with a stem or root collar diameter greater than 10 mm (0.4 inches)," it said. APHIS also plans to recognize 22 EU states as being free from CLB and ALB, but the import requirements for host plants will only change for the four countries, it said. Comments on the changes are due Sept. 16.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Bulgaria to the list of regions it considers to be affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), it said in a notice. Temporary restrictions on importation of poultry, commercial birds, other types of birds (research, performing), ratites, any avian hatching eggs, unprocessed avian products and byproducts, and certain fresh poultry products from Bulgaria have been in place since Oct. 17, 2018, after discovery of the virus in the country, APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is issuing a final rule to overhaul its regulations on importation and interstate movements of plant pests. The agency’s new regulations codify and clarify existing permitting procedures, as well as create new lists of exempt plant pests and biological control organisms that APHIS determines present no risk to plants and plant products. The final rule also sets new packaging requirements for plant pests, biological control agents and soil, and revises APHIS’s regulations on importation of soil, stone and quarry products. The new regulations take effect Aug. 8.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to loosen requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Nicaragua, it said in a notice. APHIS intends to reclassify Nicaragua as having negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the Organization for Animal Health, the agency said. Nicaragua is currently classified as having controlled risk of BSE. Imports of bovines and bovine products from countries with controlled BSE risk face tighter restrictions. Comments are due Aug. 16.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Mongolia to its list of regions subject to import restrictions on pork and pork products because they are affected by African swine fever, it said in a notice. Restrictions take effect retroactively to Jan. 10, 2019.