The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes April 6 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is issuing a final rule (here) that beginning on May 9 will allow importation of fresh Andean blackberries and raspberries from Ecuador into the continental U.S., and is also proposing (here) to allow imports of fresh pitahaya fruit from the country into the lower 48. Comments on the pitahaya proposal are due June 7. Importation would in all cases be subject to a systems approach and be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate. Effective April 8, APHIS is also amending regulations on importation of fresh peppers from Ecuador to limit importation to the continental U.S. (here). APHIS had in October erroneously allowed importation of fresh Ecuadorian peppers to the entire U.S., it said (see 1510230030).
The Animal and Plant Health Information Service would disrupt important trade relationships between the U.S. and Canada if the agency continues forward with a rulemaking to cut out exemptions to wood packaging requirements, said U.S. and Canadian trade groups in an April 1 letter (here). The 38 groups asked that APHIS "terminate the current rulemaking process and actively engage with stakeholders" to consider whether the rulemaking is the best course to address invasive species problems. The regulatory change in question would subject wood packaging materials made from Canadian wood to the same ISPM-15 treatment and marking requirements currently applicable to all other countries.
Despite some brief “system slowdowns” for ACE users following the March 31 mandatory use dates for most entry summaries and certain PGA entries in ACE, the issues “have been resolved,” said a CBP spokeswoman. CBP "regrets" the issues and has its "technical teams operating 24/7” to increase “monitoring of ACE system performance to address any additional need for faster response times while maintaining the security and integrity of the system,” she said.
Informal entries (type 11) aren't subject to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Lacey Act declaration requirement, CBP said in a CSMS message (here) meant to further clarify the agency's ACE timeline (see 1603250048). That means the Lacey Act data won't be required on type 11 entries or entry summaries in ACE, said CBP. "Electronic entry type 11 entry summaries, without PGA data other than [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration]" is now required to be filed in ACE, said CBP. "Electronic entry type 11 entries, without PGA data other than NHTSA, will be required to be filed in ACE on May 28, 2016," it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reminded importers and filers that they may still use the agency’s Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS) to submit Lacey Act declarations (here), but will first need to get entry numbers from ACE and not the legacy Automated Commercial System after the March 31 deadline for filing entries with Lacey Act data in ACE. LAWGS filers should use Lacey disclaimer code C to indicate the use of LAWGS for filing the Lacey Act declaration, said APHIS.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of lemons from Chile into the continental U.S. (here), as well as imports of cherimoya fruit from Chile into the entire U.S. without the currently required soapy water and wax treatment (here). Chilean lemons would have to be grown at a registered farm and found free of the pest Brevipalpus chilensis in order to be eligible for importation. Cherimoya would be required to be produced under a systems approach with requirements for production site registration, low pest prevalence area certification, post-harvest processing, and fruit cutting and inspection at the packinghouse. Comments on both proposed rules are due June 3.
CBP is continuing to track stakeholder readiness for ACE transition, and expects its first mandatory use date on March 31 to proceed smoothly, said an agency spokeswoman that same day. The switch from a hard Feb. 28 deadline to phased approach “has alleviated concerns voiced by the trade community regarding readiness by staggering the integration of the PGAs, and allowing more time for all parties to fully transition to ACE,” she said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes March 29 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
After months of hand-wringing and multiple delays, the first ACE mandatory use date on March 31 looks set to go smoothly, said software developers and customs brokers the day before the transition. CBP’s phased implementation approach appears to have paid dividends, with March 31 marking no change at all for many filers who already file the required types of entries and entry summaries in ACE, they said.