Lacey Act declarations will be required in ACE for entries subject to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s sixth phase of enforcement beginning Oct. 1, even though tariff flags might not immediately be in place for the relevant subheadings, an APHIS official said during CBP’s biweekly call with ACE software developers on Sept. 30.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 23 that Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 30, allowing importation of 11,655,252 kilograms (53,532 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 28, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by March 28, 2022. 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 2021 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will require importers to apply for import permits for several types of plants and seeds in eFile, rather than the agency's ePermits system, beginning Sept. 27, APHIS said. On that date, importers must apply or reapply in eFile for Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) import permits for plants for propagation, bonsai, obscured seed, small lots of seed, plants in growing media, preclearance bulbs and dormant perennials, and articles not for propagation or planting. “All ePermits data will not be transferred to APHIS eFile,” APHIS said. “You will need to reapply in APHIS eFile to obtain a new permit.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 16 that Special Import Quota #22 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 23, allowing importation of 11,655,252 kilograms (53,532 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 21, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by March 21, 2022. 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 2021 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing updates to its table of Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings and assessment rates for imported potatoes and potato products, it said in a notice. The agency is also proposing changes to its regulations on the potato promotion order “eliminating the need to amend the Plan just to update the list of relevant HTS codes.” Finally, AMS proposes changes to “approved sources of potato production data used to determine the number of Board seats” and an expansion of “payment methods used to remit assessments to include electronic submission.” Comments are due Oct. 18.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 9 that Special Import Quota #21 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 16, allowing importation of 11,655,252 kilograms (53,532 bales) of upland cotton, down from 12,031,960 kilograms (55,262 bales) in the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 14, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by March 14, 2022. 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 2021 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Department of Agriculture announced the establishment of the tariff rate quotas for raw cane sugar and refined and specialty sugars (including syrups and molasses) for fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021 - Sept. 30, 2022).
The Agricultural Marketing Service announced a moratorium on marketing order assessments on imported and domestic walnuts that will begin Sept. 1 in response to disruptions to the industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The moratorium will also apply to inspection requirements on imported walnuts, as well as walnuts grown in California.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced new entry requirements for Canadian strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and roses to prevent the introduction of the strawberry blossom weevil, a berry pest. Effective Sept. 14, entries of Fragaria spp., Rosa spp., and Rubus spp. plants produced in Canada must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate with an additional declaration stating the plants have been produced and certified as having been produced in a pest-free production site for strawberry blossom weevil, and have been inspected and found free of the pest, APHIS said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Sept. 2 that Special Import Quota #20 for upland cotton will be established Sept. 9, allowing importation of 12,031,960 kilograms (55,262 bales) of upland cotton, the same as the previous quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 7, 2021, and entered into the U.S. by March 7, 2022. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the April through June 2021 period, the most recent three months for which data is available.