The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “effective immediately” allow imports from Canada of breeding water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and yak (Bos grunniens), APHIS said in an update Dec. 9. An import permit is required, and the shipment “must also be accompanied by a health certificate endorsed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency,” APHIS said. “The importer/ transporter must contact the Northern Border Port of entry at least 14 days in advance to arrange inspection details if the animals are transported by land,” the agency said.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Nov. 25 that Special Import Quota #6 for upland cotton will be established Dec. 1, allowing importation of 10,095,949 kilograms (46,370 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Feb. 28, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by May 29, 2023. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the July through September 2022 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Nov. 17 that Special Import Quota #5 for upland cotton will be established Nov. 24, allowing importation of 10,095,949 kilograms (46,370 bales) of upland cotton. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Feb. 21, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by May 22, 2023. Special Import Quota #4 for upland cotton was announced Nov. 10. Established Nov. 17, the quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Feb. 14, 2023, and entered into the U.S. by May 15, 2023. The allowed amount in the #4 and #5 quotas is down from 12,112,732 kilograms (55,633 bales) in the previous quota period, announced in September (see 2209230020). The quotas are equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the July through September 2022 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service will on Feb. 1 begin testing samples it collects of imported ground beef for six Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli that are adulterants (non-O157 STEC: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121 or O145), it said in a notice. Currently, samples are tested for only E. coli O157:H7 and salmonella. FSIS also will expand testing for the six new E. coli strains to various raw beef products at beef producing establishments, it said.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending its National List of substances allowed and prohibited in organic products, it said in a notice in the Nov. 14 Federal Register. The final rule allows low-acyl gellan gum, a food additive used as a thickener, gelling agent and stabilizer, as an ingredient in processed organic products. It also allows paper-based crop planting aids for organic crop production, and replaces the term “wood resin” on the National List with the term “wood rosin” to reflect the popular spelling of the substance. The changes take effect Dec. 14.
The Agricultural Marketing Service seeks comments on how it should update Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers subject to importer assessments under the paper and paper-based packaging marketing order, it said in a notice released Nov. 4. AMS is also proposing to update the marketing order so that changes to tariff schedule numbers can be made more easily in the future. Comments are due Dec. 7.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is reducing rates for assessments on imports of live porcine animals, pork and pork products, it said in a final rule released Nov. 3. Effective Jan. 1, assessments on domestic and imported live porcine animals will decrease to 0.35% of the market value of the animal, from 0.4%. The assessment on imports of pork and pork products will also decrease to between one-hundredth and three-hundredths of a cent per pound, depending on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading applicable to the imports. The AMS is also updating the HTS subheading for prepared or preserved pork in its regulations.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will slightly lower some fees for agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) services, the agency said in a news release. The agency is removing a 3.5% surcharge put in place in 2015 for commercial trucks and truck transponders, international air passengers and international cruise ship passengers, in response to a court decision that found the APHIS no longer has the authority to implement the increase. The amended fees take effect Dec. 1. “Please note that these fee changes do not affect [CBP] fees collected concurrently with certain AQI fees listed above, such as those fees applicable to commercial trucks, although the overall amount to be tendered in such transactions will change accordingly."
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing changes to the marketing order on walnuts that include the elimination of mandatory inspection and certification requirements, a new mechanism for collecting assessments, a new authority for collecting late payments and an assessment rate of $0.0125 per in-shell pound of walnuts, it said in a notice in the Oct. 25 Federal Register. The proposed changes would allow the collection of assessments, currently on pause, to resume, the AMS said. Written exceptions are due Nov. 25.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing changes to import conditions for table grapes from Chile, it said in a notice released Oct. 14. Under the changes, table grapes from Chile could be imported under a systems approach or using irradiation treatment for the European grapevine moth and Chilean false red mite if they are from areas with a very low prevalence of those pests. Current mitigation measures for the Medfly would remain unchanged. “The systems approach would provide an alternative to the current import requirement of mandatory treatment with methyl bromide fumigation,” APHIS said in an emailed update. Comments are due Dec. 16.