The Agricultural Marketing Service is holding a vote on whether to continue the softwood lumber promotion order and its assessments on importers, it said. Only importers and domestic producers of more than 15 million board feet per year are eligible to vote in the referendum. Under the promotion order, which took effect in 2012 (see 11121931), importers above that threshold must pay an assessment of $0.1483 per cubic meter on imports under subheadings 4407.10.01, 4409.10.05, 4409.10.10, 4409.10.20, 4409.10.90 and 4418.90.25. The fees fund efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. The referendum will be conducted by mailed ballot beginning April 17, with votes due no later than May 14.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its regulations to ease the approval process for cold treatment facilities in the Southern and Western U.S., it said in a final rule. New general criteria for approving cold treatment facilities across the U.S. replaces the location-specific criteria currently in place, APHIS said. Previously, cold treatment facilities could only be located north of 39 degrees latitude and east of 104 degrees longitude, with exemptions granted for the maritime ports of Wilmington, North Carolina; Seattle; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Gulfport, Mississippi; as well as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. "These criteria, if met, will 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 into the United States," APHIS said. The rule becomes effective March 14.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is adding additional requirements for the importation of citrus fruits from Colombia, it said in a notice. The agency will require that citrus fruit be produced only in approved places of production registered with the Colombian government, under fruit fly trapping programs and standard packing house procedures, and be imported only in commercial consignments, it said. Those new requirements would come on top of existing requirements for importation of citrus from Colombia. They would apply to fresh sweet orange, grapefruit, mandarin, clementine and tangerine fruit from the country imported on or after Feb. 6, APHIS said. Importation of citrus fruits from Colombia has been suspended since 2015, and no commercial shipments of Colombian citrus have occurred since 1995, APHIS said. Comments on the change are due April 9.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is issuing a final rule to allow importation from Taiwan of orchids of the genus Dendrobium in approved growing media, subject to certain growing, inspection and certification requirements. Previously, Dendrobium orchid plants could only be imported into the U.S. from Taiwan as bare root plant, APHIS said. The final rule takes effect March 1.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to amend the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances in organic products. The proposed rule would change the use restrictions for 17 substances allowed for organic production or handling: micronutrients; chlorhexidine; parasiticides; fenbendazole; moxidectin; xylazine; lidocaine; procaine; methionine; excipients; alginic acid; flavors; carnauba wax; chlorine; cellulose; colors; and glycerin. It would also allow the use of 16 new substances: hypochlorous acid; magnesium oxide; squid byproducts; activated charcoal; calcium borogluconate; calcium propionate; injectable vitamins, minerals and electrolytes; kaolin pectin; mineral oil; propylene glycol; acidified sodium chlorite; zinc sulfate; potassium lactate; and sodium lactate. The proposed rule would also list a botanical pesticide, rotenone, as a prohibited substance in organic crop production, and remove ivermectin as an allowed parasiticide for use in organic livestock production. Comments are due March 19.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is finalizing a decision to end a ban on importation of fresh pork and pork products from most of Mexico to prevent the spread of classical swine fever (CSF), after finding the entire country to be essentially free of the illness. APHIS had already recognized nine Mexican states as free of CSF: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa, Sonora and Yucatan. Now, fresh pork and pork products will be eligible for importation from every Mexican state, and APHIS is adding the entire country of Mexico to its web list of regions considered to be free of CSF but from which live pork, swine and pork products can be imported to the U.S. under conditions specified in 9 CFR 94.32.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the 2018 rates it will charge meat and poultry establishments, egg products plants, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime and holiday inspection and identification, certification and laboratory services. Effective Jan. 21, the agency's 2018 rate schedule is as follows:
The Agriculture Department is withdrawing a proposed rule issued in 2013 that would have overhauled the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Lacey Act forfeiture regulations, it said in a notice. Under the withdrawn proposal, APHIS would have increased the threshold for referral to federal court to $15,000, provided for recovery of costs related to APHIS storage of seized merchandise, and set forth procedures for valuation of seized property and posting of seizure notices at the port, among other things. The withdrawal is one of several announced in the USDA notice that “were either published in the Federal Register more than 4 years ago without subsequent action or determined to no longer be candidates for final action,” USDA said. “USDA is taking this action to reduce its regulatory backlog and focus its resources on higher priority actions. The Department’s actions are part of an overall regulatory reform strategy to reduce regulatory burden on the public and to ensure the Spring and Fall 2017 Unified Agendas of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions provided the public accurate information about rulemakings the Department intends to undertake,” it said.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing new late payment fees and interest charges on late assessments from importers and domestic producers under the honey marketing order. Under the order, importers and domestic handlers of 250,000 pounds of non-organic honey or honey products must pay an assessment. AMS is proposing to impose a late fee of an additional 10 percent on assessments not received within 30 calendar days of the date they are due, as well as 2/3 percent interest until payment is received. Comments are due Jan. 22.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Dec. 14 published a “major update” to the wood and wood products section of its Miscellaneous and Processed Products Import Manual, it said in an emailed update. The update “does not change APHIS’ import requirements for wood and wood products; it simply makes them easier to find and understand,” the agency said. Changes include reorganizing requirements into subsections, placing information in shorter tables, removing redundant language that already appears on permits and creating a new section with guidance on importing wooden handicrafts. The revision is “part of a larger 18-month effort to clarify agency guidance and improve communication with both APHIS stakeholders and [CBP] inspectors on wood and wood product requirements,” APHIS said.