The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of tree tomatoes from Ecuador, it said (here). To be eligible, tree tomatoes from Ecuador would have to be “produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation in commercial consignments, registration and monitoring of places of production, field monitoring and pest-control practices, trapping, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of Ecuador,” APHIS said. Comments are due Aug. 21.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of fresh pitahaya fruit from Ecuador, subject to certain conditions, it said in a final rule (here). Eligible pitahaya fruit will have to be produced under a systems approach, including requirements for fruit fly trapping, pre-harvest inspections, approved production sites and packinghouse procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests, APHIS said. Imports will also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the government of Ecuador. The final rule takes effect July 20.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow importation from Denmark of plants of the genus campanula in approved growing media, it said (here). If finalized, imports of the plants, commonly known as bellflowers, would have to follow measures generally applicable to all plants for planting authorized for importation in approved growing media, APHIS said. Comments are due Aug. 21.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding 22 taxa of plants that are quarantine pests, and 34 taxa of plants that are hosts of eight quarantine pests, to its lists of taxa of plants for planting for which importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis (NAPPRA), it said (here). Effective June 19, importation of these NAPPRA plants is prohibited pending completion of a pest risk analysis, which must be requested, though imports of certain plants from Canada is exempt if Canada has a significant trade history with the U.S. for a particular plant.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of Chinese poultry products from birds slaughtered in China, it said (here). If finalized, slaughtered poultry processed in certified Chinese establishments would be eligible for export to the U.S., subject to all other applicable requirements and re-inspection at the U.S. port of entry, FSIS said. As it currently stands, eligible products would be limited to cooked poultry due to China’s disease status, it said. The U.S. recently agreed to publish the proposed rule as part of the U.S.-China Economic Cooperation 100-Day Plan (see 1705120003). Comments on the proposed rule are due Aug. 15.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding Cyprus to its list of regions that are free of foot-and-mouth disease, rinderpest and swine vesicular disease, and its list of regions considered free or low-risk for classical swine fever, it said in a notice (here). The determination, which takes effect June 8, loosens restrictions on importation of swine, pork, and pork products from Cyprus.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently created a new website (here) to provide guidance for businesses and individuals that import wooden handicrafts from China, it said (here). The website includes information on how to meet APHIS regulatory requirements, the types of wood products that APHIS considers a handicraft and points of contact for wooden handicraft issues. Also included is the list of approved manufacturers of wooden handicrafts from China (see 1703030014), as well as the criteria manufacturers must meet to be added to the list.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is prohibiting the entry of all fresh cherries from the Canadian province of Ontario, effective immediately, it said in a federal order dated May 23 (here). The agency is taking the action because of multiple detections of the European cherry fruit fly in the province, it said. The prohibition covers imports of black cherry, mahaleb cherry, sour cherry and sweet cherry, as well as wild fruits of the genera Prunus and Lonicera, APHIS said. Imports from all Canadian provinces other than Ontario are still allowed, but must have their origin verified by shipping documents (such as a bill of lading) or “other proof of origin acceptable to APHIS,” it said. Cherries that have been frozen, canned, cooked, dehydrated, jellied, juiced or pickled are also still allowed from all Canadian provinces, APHIS said in an emailed update (here).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will hold three public meetings in June to discuss its proposed changes to regulations on importation, interstate movement and release of genetically engineered (GE) organisms, it said (here). The proposed rule, issued in January (see 1701180058), would modify current definitions of what is a GE organism, as well as the criteria used by APHIS to judge whether it regulates GE organisms based on the risk of introduction of plant pests or noxious weeds. Time-limited import permits would be eliminated, as would current notification procedures. The meetings will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 6, Davis, California, on June 13, and Riverdale, Maryland, on June 16. Comments on the proposed changes are due June 19 (see 1702090017).
The Agriculture Department is creating a position for an under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on May 11 (here). The 2014 Farm Bill mandated the new position, which will oversee the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and will chair an interagency trade committee including FAS, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food Safety Inspection Service, the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Federal Grain Inspection Service, USDA said in a report notifying Congress of the new position (here). The under secretary also will meet regularly with the USDA under secretary for food safety and under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs on trade issues requiring regulatory involvement and support.