USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will on May 20 "roll out" use of its APHIS Core Message Set for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment, or PPQ Form 203, for air shipments of precleared commodities from Chile, air shipments of precleared commodities from Thailand, and both air and maritime shipments of precleared commodities from Argentina, the agency said in a bulletin on May 6. This will create an electronic database -- for Certificates of Foreign Inspection and/or Treatment -- that can be "invoked" by filers and accessed by CBP agriculture inspectors through the Automated Commercial Environment Document Image System. "The process will function like current permitting and ePhyto capabilities in ACE," APHIS said.
Germany-based private airline company Hahn Air Lines and its Minnesota-based subsidiary, Hahn Air USA, will pay $26.8 million to settle allegations the companies violated the False Claims Act by "knowingly failing to remit to the United States certain travel fees" the airline collected from commercial passengers flying to or within the U.S., DOJ announced.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is moving forward with increased user fees for its agricultural quarantine and inspection service, it said last week. Announced in a pre-publication final rule released by APHIS, the fee increases will begin to apply on Oct. 1.
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FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “hopefully” publish its notice launching Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement “in the next two-ish months,” said Erin Otto, of the agency’s Lacey Act program, on April 16. That will trigger a six-month countdown until full enforcement of Phase VII, which covers all non-composite plant products that Lacey Act requirements haven't previously covered.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of leaves and stems of rosemary and leaves and stems of tarragon from Ethiopia into the continental U.S., it said in a notice April 4. An agency pest risk analysis found “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds” with the importation of the herbs, APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the U.S., subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments will be accepted through June 3.
A ban on imports of some types of cherries and other fruits from Quebec recently went into effect, after a detection of the European cherry fruit fly in the province resulted in the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service expanding a ban already in place for Ontario. Effective April 1, APHIS is prohibiting entry of imports from Quebec of black cherry (Prunus serotina), mahaleb cherry (P. mahaleb), sour cherry (P. cerasus), sweet cherry (P. avium), and wild Prunus spp. and Lonicera spp. fruits. Imports of those fruits from Ontario have been banned since 2017 for the same reason (see 1705240011).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service intends to allow imports of fresh Hass avocado fruit from Guatemala, it said in a notice released March 26. An agency pest risk analysis found “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds” with the importation of Guatemalan avocados, APHIS said. If APHIS finalizes the decision, it will allow imports into the U.S., subject to the phytosanitary requirements specified by the agency. Comments will be accepted through May 28.
The Senate passed a resolution that could undo the USDA's approval of imported Paraguayan beef, if the House also votes to end these imports by a veto-proof margin.
The White House told the Senate that it strongly opposes an effort to undo the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's finding that fresh beef imports from Paraguay are safe.