The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Dec. 14 published a “major update” to the wood and wood products section of its Miscellaneous and Processed Products Import Manual, it said in an emailed update. The update “does not change APHIS’ import requirements for wood and wood products; it simply makes them easier to find and understand,” the agency said. Changes include reorganizing requirements into subsections, placing information in shorter tables, removing redundant language that already appears on permits and creating a new section with guidance on importing wooden handicrafts. The revision is “part of a larger 18-month effort to clarify agency guidance and improve communication with both APHIS stakeholders and [CBP] inspectors on wood and wood product requirements,” APHIS said.
The Agriculture Department is amending its regulations to increase its civil monetary penalty amounts to account for inflation, it said in a final rule. Affected penalties include fines for violating Agricultural Marketing Service marketing orders and the provisions of the Plant Protection Act, as enforced by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The final rule takes effect Dec. 5.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of fresh mangoes from Vietnam into the continental U.S., it said in a final rule. Importation will be subject to conditions, including orchard or packinghouse requirements, irradiation treatment and port of entry inspection, APHIS said. The mangoes must also be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the Vietnamese government with an additional declaration that the fruit is free of certain pests. The final rule takes effect Dec. 29.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is withdrawing a proposed rule that would have overhauled its regulations on importation and interstate movement of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The agency will “re-engage with stakeholders to determine the most effective, science-based approach for regulating the products of modern biotechnology while protecting plant health,” it said in a press release. The agency’s January 2017 proposal would have eliminated time-limited permits in favor of increased recordkeeping requirements, and changed how the agency decides whether to regulate a GE organism (see 1701180058). “Many commenters objected to the scope of the proposed rule. Some thought that our criteria for designating GE organisms as regulated organisms were too expansive, potentially resulting in our regulating a wider range of GE organisms than necessary and thereby increasing, rather than reducing, the regulatory burden for the biotechnology industry,” the agency said in its notice of withdrawal.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will end its pilot program on blanket Lacey Act declarations in April 2018, it said. APHIS is ending the pilot, which began in 2009, “due to the development of the ACE system, and a diminishing number of participants,” with only eight companies still participating out of a total of 119 that have registered over the life of the program. “CBP’s [Border Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity (BRASS)] program will continue to operate as it did prior to the creation of the pilot program, and participants in the blanket declaration pilot program will not lose their line release status in the expedited border release programs,” APHIS said. “When the program ends, importers whose products are subject to the Lacey Act declaration requirement and clear under the BRASS program are advised to file the required declaration information along with their CBP entry summary documentation,” it said.
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.