The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is loosening requirements on importation of bovines and bovine products from Ireland, it said in a notice. APHIS will reclassify Ireland as having negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, concurring with recommendations recently issued by the World Organization for Animal Health, the agency said. Ireland had previously been classified as undetermined for BSE risk, and imports of bovines and bovine products from the country were prohibited.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of pummelo fruit from Vietnam into the U.S., subject to certain phytosanitary requirements, it said in a notice released Oct. 3. Imports may be authorized beginning Oct. 4, APHIS said.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to increase the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments on imports collected under the Cotton Research and Promotion Program, it said in a direct final rule released Sept. 27. The revised value is 1.3215 cents, an increase of .2079 cent per kilogram. The increase reflects a rise in the average price of upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during the period January through December 2021. AMS's notice also includes a table of adjusted assessments corresponding to each Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading for which they are due. The changes take effect Nov. 28, unless adverse comments are received by Oct. 28.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of fresh turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome from Samoa, it said in a notice released Sept. 26. Importation will be subject to "one or more designated phytosanitary measures ... to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds,” APHIS said. Imports may be authorized beginning Sept. 27.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow imports of non-precleared sand pears from South Korea into all U.S. ports, it said in a notice released Sept. 26. Previously, non-precleared sand pears from the country could be imported only into the Port of Honolulu, and only fruit imported under an APHIS preclearance program was allowed into all ports (see 2103120030). The non-precleared sand pears will be subject to the import conditions of the “systems approach” currently required for precleared fruit. Imports may be authorized at all U.S. ports beginning Sept. 27, APHIS said.
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 22 that Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 29, allowing importation of 12,112,732 kilograms (55,633 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 27, 2022, and entered into the U.S. by March 27, 2023. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2022 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is beginning its annual certification visits for greenhouse facilities that wish to export Pelargonium spp. unrooted plant cuttings, it said Sept. 21. The certifications are required for any shipments from countries where Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 is known to occur, APHIS said. The agency plans to complete inspections by March 1, 2023, for facilities shipping during the 2022-23 season, it said. Those interested in scheduling a certification visit should send official correspondence from the National Plant Protection Organization of the exporting country to APHIS by Oct. 15, APHIS said.
CBP and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) program will on Sept. 26 begin risk-based sampling (RBS) for banana and plantain shipments at U.S. ports of entry, APHIS said. “There are no changes to the required entry paperwork; however, PPQ and CBP recommend that trade entities file entry paperwork prior to arrival if possible and include APHIS Core Message Set data to ensure their shipments are processed according to RBS procedures,” APHIS said.
USDA on Sept. 15 announced the establishment of the tariff rate quota for refined and specialty sugars (including syrups and molasses) for fiscal year 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022 - Sept. 30, 2023). The FY23 refined and specialty sugar TRQ will be established at 222,000 metric tons raw value (MTRV) for certain sugars, syrups and molasses, which is the same as the quota announced for FY22 (see 2109100027).
USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 15 that Special Import Quota #22 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 22, allowing importation of 12,112,732 kilograms (55,633 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 20, 2022, and entered into the U.S. by March 20, 2023. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the May through July 2022 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.