The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Aug. 4 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 on July 23 issued Federal Order DA-2014-33 to add to the list of countries infested by tomato leaf miner, it said in a message to stakeholders sent Aug. 4. The new list of infested countries will now include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Togo and Ukraine. All except Kenya and South Sudan are approved to export tomatoes to the United States. Tomatoes from countries on the infested list must meet certain conditions before being imported. The order, which supersedes a Federal Order issued in 2012 (here), takes effect Aug. 6.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes July 30 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 needs to rethink “exorbitant” and “unfair” fee increases for agricultural quarantine and inspection services, according to a July 24 letter from 27 trade associations including the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America and the American Apparel & Footwear Association. The agency should withdraw the proposed rules it issued in April on AQI and overtime fee rates (see 14042321) so that industry can review the underlying data, they said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes July 25 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 to amend its regulations to allow importation of two types of Unshu orange hybrids from South Korea. Currently, only the Swingle variety of Unshu orange is allowed to be imported into the United States from South Korea. The agency’s proposed rule would allow the Shiranuhi and Setoka unshu hybrids, subject to the same conditions in place for the Swingle variety. APHIS would also clarify that all unshu oranges from South Korea, including the Swingle variety, must be imported in commercial consignments. Comments are due Sept. 29.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to end a ban on importation of fresh pork and pork products from most of Mexico, after finding the country to be free of classical swine fever. Under the proposal, fresh pork and pork products would be eligible for importation from every Mexican state except Chiapas. Establishments that raise the swine would be subject to sanitary and biosecurity requirements, and slaughterhouses would be subject to APHIS inspection. Live swine would not be permitted for importation except from the States of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Yucatan, which are the nine Mexican states from which APHIS already allows imports. Comments are due Sept. 29.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes July 22 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.
Importers and trade groups roundly criticized fee increases proposed in April by the Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS) in comments submitted to the agency in response to the proposed rule. The agency proposed higher fees for general agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) and overtime activities, including for the first time imposing a fee on treatment services (see 14042321). The fee hikes would disadvantage small importers, and would disproportionately impact U.S.-Canada trade, said commenters. APHIS is accepting comments on the proposed rule until July 24.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to amend the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of fresh apples (Malus pumila) from China into the U.S. As a condition of entry, apples from areas in China in which the Oriental fruity fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) is not known to exist would have to be produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include registration requirements for places of production and packinghouses, inspection for quarantine pests, etc. Apples from areas where the fruit fly is known to exist could be imported into the U.S. if, in addition to these requirements, the apples are treated with fumigation plus refrigeration and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration that all import conditions have been met and the consignment has been inspected and found free of quarantine pests. Comments are due by Sept. 16.