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The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it has found Japan to be free of highly pathogenic avian influenza and Newcastle disease. The change in disease status, which 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 Japan, takes effect Oct. 16.

Imports from Canada of items made from broomcorn are no longer subject to mandatory sterilization requirements as long as they are accompanied by a manufacturer’s statement that says the items were processed and handled as stated in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Miscellaneous and Processed Products Import Manual, APHIS said. The change takes effect immediately, it said. “We determined that the handling and processing of these items prior to import into the United States makes them unlikely to harbor pests or diseases of quarantine concern,” APHIS said.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of fresh persimmons from New Zealand, subject to certain conditions, it said in a final rule. Requirements include orchard certification, orchard pest control, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, sampling, and treatment with either hot water or modified atmosphere treatment. The persimmons would also have to be accompanied by a certificate from the New Zealand government saying they meet all these requirements and were inspected and found free of pests. The final rule takes effect Nov. 2.

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 is adding Uganda and Zimbabwe to the list of regions it considers to be affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), it said in two separate notices. 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 Uganda have been in place since Jan. 14, 2017, and for Zimbabwe since June 1, 2017, after discovery of the virus in each country, respectively, APHIS said.

The Agricultural Marketing Service needs to implement “controls at U.S. ports of entry” to ensure organic certification requirements for agricultural products are enforced at the border, the Agriculture Department’s Office of the Inspector General said in a report. The current lack of enforcement “increases the risk that non-organic products may be imported as organic into the United States and could create an unfair economic environment for U.S. organic producers,” the report said. As part of its response, AMS agreed to submit a request to CBP for new ACE requirements for organic products by July 2018.

Dismantling foreign sanitary and phytosanitary trade barriers would be Ted McKinney’s top priority if confirmed as under secretary of agriculture for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, the nominee told the Senate Agriculture Committee during his Sept. 19 confirmation hearing. “We try very hard in the U.S. to subscribe to the [World Trade Organization] standards or any other standards that have been agreed to, and the reverse is not true,” McKinney said. “And I think it’s time to call that out and address it for what it is, and be firm about that.” If confirmed, McKinney would work with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the State Department, and Commerce Department to address SPS double standards of several U.S. trading partners, he said in written testimony to the committee.

The House on Sept. 14 passed an appropriations package that would fund several agencies with trade functions in fiscal year 2018, adopting an amendment that would prohibit funds being used to “implement, administer, or enforce” the Securities and Exchange Commission’s conflict minerals reporting rule. Introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., the amendment would block funds from being used for reporting requirement for conflict minerals originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries, among other things. SEC has said it doesn’t plan to recommend action to enforce its regulation that firms must provide a statement identifying items that are not conflict minerals-free, though current SEC rules also direct companies to provide information related to country of origin for such products (see 1704100023).

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of orchids from South Korea of the genera phalaenopsis and cymbidium, as long as they are imported in an approved growing medium, it said in a final rule. Imported Korean orchids would also be subject to growing, inspection and certification requirements. The final rule takes effect Oct. 16.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of fresh persimmons with calyxes from Japan into the U.S., it said in a final rule. Conditions of entry will include orchard certification, pest control and post-harvest safeguards, as well as fruit culling, traceback and sampling. APHIS is also requiring a phytosanitary certificate from the Japanese government declaring the persimmons were inspected and found free of pests. The final rule takes effect Oct. 12.