The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will on Sept. 30 decommission vacuum fumigation chambers at its Los Indios, Texas, Seattle, and Houston plant inspection stations, it said in a message to stakeholders. The agency said a review of fumigation data showed that over 80 percent of fumigations at these stations do not need a vacuum and can be done effectively at normal pressure. APHIS directed importers a list of providers of fumigation services (here).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Sept. 8 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 proposing a change to its procedures for setting fruit and vegetable import requirements. Under the proposed rule, APHIS would no longer go through a normal rulemaking process for changes to import requirements. 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 on the proposed rule are due Nov. 10.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is almost done working through an enforcement backlog and has reduced the investigation timeline by nearly half over the past three years, according to a message to stakeholders from APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea. In 2011, APHIS had about 2,100 open regulatory violation cases, but that number has dropped by 80 percent to about 410. Having worked through the backlog, APHIS’ Investigation and Enforcement Services division is now able to process new cases immediately, reducing the time it takes to investigate and take action on an alleged violation from 632 to 328 days, said Shea.
Beginning on Jan. 1, CBP will issue penalties to any vessels that don’t provide two-year port of call data or that visited ports in areas with Asian gypsy moths during the high-risk period and are not pre-certified as free of the pests, said the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Canadian Food Inspection Agency in a joint letter. Vessels arriving from Far East Russia, Japan, Korea and China are already required to be inspected and obtain pre-departure certification from a recognized certification body, and provide the certification to the U.S. or Canadian. All vessels must also provide port of call data for the last two years at least 96 hours prior to arrival in North America. But currently only Canada imposes penalties for violating the requirements.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is phasing in new electronic shipping labels with barcodes for Plant Protection and Quarantine and Biotechnology Regulatory Services permits, it said on Sept. 4. To save time and cost, APHIS will email the labels as a PDF so they don’t have to be put in the mail, it said. APHIS will send new labels “within minutes” of an approved label request, and additional shipping labels can be requested as needed by email. The labels will include detailed shipping instructions, and can be forwarded electronically to exporters, said APHIS.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service launched a new website that gives importers another option for filing Lacey Act Declarations electronically, the agency said Sept. 3. The Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS) (here) allows importers and their customs brokers to log into APHIS systems and enter their PPQ Form 505 directly. The new system is not intended to replace filing of Lacey Act Declarations in the Automated Broker Interface, but is instead intended to give remaining paper filers an electronic option. LAWGS will eventually replace all paper submissions, said APHIS.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of litchi and longan fruit from Vietnam into the Continental U.S., it said in a final rule that takes effect Oct. 6. Importation of the fruit will be subject to certain conditions, including irradiation treatment, labeling, and a phytosanitary certificate from the Vietnamese government. Importation and distribution will not be allowed in the State of Florida, said APHIS.
The Sept. 2 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service proposal to allow the importation of chilled and frozen beef from Northern Argentina may put U.S. cattle at risk of foot-and-mouth disease contagion, said Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “Allowing beef imports from the Patagonia region of Argentina would risk the spread of an extremely contagious livestock disease," said Cramer in a release, while urging public comment. "My concerns about this rule echo those of cattle ranchers across North Dakota who want to protect the health and safety of their herds." The North Dakota Stockmen’s Association earlier in 2014 said APHIS prepared the proposal with insufficient research, Cramer added. Through the proposal, APHIS also recognizes Northern Argentina region as free of rinderpest (see 14082901).
The U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council released on Aug. 29 its “Joint Forward Plan” on areas of future cooperation between the two countries’ governments. The Joint Forward Plan builds on a Joint Action Plan from 2011 that comprised 29 initiatives (see 11121316). The new document includes updates on each of the 29 initiatives announced in 2011, as well as lessons learned during the past three years and about 20 new and continued areas of regulatory cooperation.