The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of bone-in ovine meat from Uruguay, subject to certain conditions, it said in a final rule. Uruguay had requested the exemption from deboning requirements specifically so it could export rack of lamb to the U.S., APHIS said. The final rule takes effect Oct. 12.
There is significant room for growth in the U.S.-Argentina trade relationship, particularly in agriculture, Vice President Mike Pence said Aug. 15 during a joint press conference in Buenos Aires with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri. Macri, President Donald Trump and other officials have spoken in the last week about expanding U.S. pork access in Argentina, Pence said. Macri and Pence also discussed lemon imports from Argentina and “the interest” in importing beef from and exporting beef to the country, Pence said. An Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service final rule allowing importation of lemons from northwest Argentina into the continental U.S. took effect May 26 (see 1705020038). “Our hope is that, with the energy that our administration and that President Macri’s administration are placing behind this, we may have a breakthrough soon that will expand the economic relationship between Argentina and the United States, particularly on agricultural goods,” Pence said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of Hass avocados from Colombia, it said in a final rule. Conditions for importation include orchard and packinghouse requirements and port of entry inspection, as well as a phytosanitary certificate issued by the government of Colombia. The final rule takes effect Sept. 14.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Malta to its list of regions that are free of foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest, African swine fever and swine vesicular disease, and its list of regions considered free of or at low risk for classical swine fever, it said in a notice. The determination, which takes effect Sept. 11, loosens restrictions on importation of swine, pork and pork products from Malta.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service loosened restrictions on importation of live bovines and bovine products from several countries, it said. The agency said it concurs with the Organization for Animal Health’s decision to classify Costa Rica, Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Namibia, Romania and Spain as having negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The determination was made Aug. 2.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to end a ban on importation of fresh pork and pork products for classical swine fever (CSF) reasons from most of Mexico, after finding the entire country to be essentially free of the illness. APHIS already recognizes nine Mexican states as free of CSF: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora and Yucatan. Under the proposal, fresh pork and pork products would be eligible for importation from every Mexican state, and APHIS would add the entire country of Mexico to its Web list of regions considered to be free of CSF but from which live pork, swine and pork products can be imported to the U.S. under conditions specified in 9 CFR 94.32. Comments are due Oct. 7.
Thirty-seven senators on July 26 urged Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to work to open the Chinese market to U.S. poultry exports, after the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently welcomed Chinese technical representatives for a training course and a review of U.S. avian flu control measures, according to an Agriculture Department spokesman. China banned all U.S. poultry and egg products in January 2015 following the detection of a wild duck with highly pathogenic avian influenza (see 1501130021). A letter led by Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., says continued enforcement of the ban is inconsistent with World Organization for Animal Health standards, but adds that the senators are pleased China has started its animal health audit of the U.S. poultry industry.
Regulatory agencies with oversight on imports and exports released their plans for upcoming rulemaking as part of the 2017 Unified Agenda. As the first regulatory agenda issued by the Trump administration, the new version touts the withdrawal of "469 actions proposed in the Fall 2016 Agenda," as well as the reconsideration of "391 active actions by reclassifying them as long term (282) and inactive (109), allowing for further careful review." New regulations are listed from the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on July 20 advanced fiscal year 2018 agriculture spending legislation (here) that would require the Food Safety and Inspection Service to determine inspection equivalence no later than March 1 for all countries that want to continue exporting catfish to the U.S., according to the bill’s committee report (here). The report directs FSIS to complete country-by-country equivalence determinations “based on volume of catfish exports to the United States.” The bill matches the $1 billion outlined for total FSIS funding in the House Appropriations Committee-approved version, and would provide $953.2 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, $46.8 million above the amount outlined in the House version.
The Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on July 18 approved fiscal year 2018 spending legislation that would fully fund and keep catfish inspections at the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), aligning with a bill passed July 12 by House appropriators (see 1707120035). The Trump administration’s FY18 budget requested that catfish inspections shift back to the Food and Drug Administration (see 1706280034). The bill matches the $1 billion outlined for total FSIS funding in the House Appropriations Committee-approved version (here), the Senate Appropriations Committee said (here). This amount would support more than 8,000 front-line inspection personnel for meat, poultry and egg products at more than 6,400 U.S. facilities. The Senate version also would provide $953.2 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, $46.8 million above the amount outlined in the House Appropriations Committee-approved version.