The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing minor revisions to its regulations on importation of live dogs, in a broader proposed rule amending Animal Welfare Act licensing provisions in general. The agency would clarify language in its dog import licensing and certification regulations to clarify that dogs intended for resale for research purposes, or dogs intended for resale following veterinary treatment, must be imported with an import permit and accompanying certifications. APHIS would also replace references to the “continental United States or Hawaii” with the word “States,” which is defined elsewhere as “a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, or any other territory or possession of the United States.” That’s intended to clarify that no import permit is required when transporting dogs within the U.S., APHIS said. Comments are due May 21.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has preliminarily found the state of Baja California, Mexico, free of fever ticks, and also preliminarily found Singapore free from foot-and-mouth disease. If it confirms these findings, certain restrictions on importation of ruminants from Baja California and on live ruminants and swine from Singapore may be lifted. Comments on each evaluation are due May 20.
Broad descriptions of the budget for trade-related operations show the administration would like to spend more on enforcement, and would like to collect more fees from travelers and traders. The submissions, released March 11, for fiscal year 2020, asked for $9 million more for the Bureau of Industry and Security -- slightly more than last year's requested increase. "The Budget increases resources to support the Department of Commerce's membership in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the summary said. "The Budget includes $16 million to support the President’s robust trade agenda," the summary said, including implementing the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which asked Commerce to identify emerging technologies that should be subject to export controls. The summary said the administration wants to establish "a new initiative within the International Trade Administration to counter the circumvention or evasion of U.S. trade actions aimed at those who engage in unfair and illegal trade practices."
Most import and export activities conducted by the Agriculture Department will continue at near full strength in the new year, despite the agency running out of funds for some other activities due to the federal government shutdown, USDA said in a press release. According to the agency’s shutdown plan, 89 percent of Food Safety and Inspection Service staff will remain on the job for activities including meat, poultry and egg inspection and laboratory work. The Agricultural Marketing Service will also keep 89 percent of its current staff, including for voluntary grading and inspection services. For the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 69 percent will continue working through the shutdown, for preclearance and inspection activities related to fruits and vegetables, phytosanitary certificate and agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) activities, including after business hours. More heavily affected is the Foreign Agricultural Service, which will only keep 15 percent of its staff, including foreign service personnel assigned to embassies and consulates overseas.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is finalizing changes to its regulations on branding requirements for bovines imported into the U.S. from Mexico, it said. The final rule simplifies and enlarges required brands on imported bovines. “These changes will help prevent inconsistencies in branding that can result in bovines being rejected for import into the United States,” APHIS said. The new provisions take effect Jan. 14.
After a review lasting less than two weeks of Poland's export protocols, the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has lifted import restrictions on pork from that country. Two establishments are excepted: Pork from those unnamed establishments cannot be imported unless it is cooked. The import restrictions, which began Oct. 18 (see 1810220017), were in place due to the risk of African Swine Fever, a disease that can affect feral hogs and domestic animals, but not people. The risk was seen as coming from several fresh pork-exporting facilities that might be located in a swine fever restricted zone. "We are retaining restrictions on raw product and heat treated, but not fully cooked, product from two establishments while we complete a more thorough review," APHIS said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service suspended entry of pork imports from Poland beginning Oct. 18 as APHIS reviews that country's export protocols, the agency said in a notice. "In order to give us time to ensure all Polish facilities that export pork and pork products to the U.S. are acting in accordance with our import requirements, we have suspended entry for all fresh and frozen pork from Poland until our review is completed," it said. The restrictions are due to the possibility that "several plants in Poland actively exporting fresh pork to the U.S. may be located within an [African Swine Fever] restricted zone," according to a separate notice sent by Geodis. There is not a "grace period for shipments that are currently in transit to the United States, and all shipments of fresh/frozen/chilled pork shipped from Poland to the United States should be refused entry," it said.
The Trump administration issued its Fall 2018 unified regulatory agenda, advancing its deregulatory program through “structural reforms as well as the practical work of eliminating and revising regulations,” according to the agenda’s introductory statement. The effect can be seen on the individual regulatory agendas of agencies that regulate imports and exports, with many putting out shorter lists that include the elimination of rules and the creation of new regulatory exemptions.
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.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 10-14 in case they were missed.