APHIS Proposes To Ease Approval Process for Cold Treatment Facilities at Southern, Western Ports

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to ease the approval process for cold treatment facilities in the Southern and Western U.S., it said (here). The proposed rule would set general criteria for approving cold treatment facilities across the U.S., replacing the location-specific criteria currently in place, APHIS said. “These criteria, if met, would allow us to approve new cold treatment facilities without rulemaking and facilitate the importation of fruit requiring cold treatment while continuing to provide protection against the introduction of pests of concern,” it said.