The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to open up the U.S. to Hass avocados from all of Mexico, in a Feb. 18 Federal Register notice. Currently, only Hass avocados from the Mexican state of Michoacan are eligible for entry into the United States. Under the APHIS proposal, the same requirements applicable to avocados from Michoacan would be extended to all states in Mexico, said APHIS. As the only other Mexican state that currently meets the import standards, Jalisco would be the first state that would be eligible to export Hass avocados to the U.S. under the proposal, it said. Comments on the proposed rule are due April 20.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently announced a ban on the importation of apples, citrus, and Capsicum peppers from Guyana, in a Federal Order dated Feb. 6 (here). Effective March 8, the ban is meant to prevent the spread of the carambola fruit fly, it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 12 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 announced changes Feb. 10 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 transition of cargo release to the Automated Commercial Environment in November is going to be marked by a transition period that will require some heavy lifting from the trade community, said CBP officials at a National Association Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) seminar on Feb. 10. While CBP hopes to get everyone to the point where they can exchange electronic messages, it remains to be decided how automation will work at the operational level for entities like terminal operators, truck drivers, and container freight stations that currently stamp paper, said James Swanson, CBP director-cargo security and controls.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 9 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.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 2-6 in case they were missed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will extend by another 60 days the deadline for comments on a proposed change to its procedures for setting fruit and vegetable import requirements, it said in a Federal Register notice (here). Under the proposed rule, issued in September, APHIS would no longer go through a normal rulemaking process for changes to import requirements (see 14090819). Instead, the agency would simply publish a notice in the Federal Register advising the public of the change. APHIS would still give the public a chance to comment before changes are made through publication of a “pest risk analysis” document detailing the agency’s scientific rationale. Comments are now due March 10.
Twenty more tariff lines in chapters 44, 82, 94, and 96 are set to become subject to enforcement of Lacey Act import declaration requirements, as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service begins the next phase of enforcement in August. The addition of the new tariff lines marks the fifth phase of Lacey Act declaration enforcement, according to an APHIS Federal Register notice (here). APHIS is giving importers six months until Aug. 6 before it begins requiring declarations on the new products. The agency will accept comments until April 7 on the products covered by Phase V, as well as any other tariff lines that should be included. The current list of products set for enforcement beginning on Aug. 6 is as follows:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 2 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.