The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Aug. 30 issued a final rule (here) amending its regulations on the packaging and labeling of veterinary biological products. Changes to format and content requirements include allowing the use of an abbreviated true name on small final container labeling, requiring labeling information placed on carton tray covers to appear on the outside face of the tray cover, and removing the restriction requiring multiple-dose final containers of veterinary biologics to be packaged in individual cartons. The final rule takes effect Oct. 31.
On Aug. 29 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Aug. 26 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow importation of fresh persimmons with calyxes from Japan into the U.S. (here). Conditions of entry would include orchard certification, pest control and post-harvest safeguards, as well as fruit culling, traceback and sampling. APHIS would also require a phytosanitary certificate from the Japanese government declaring the persimmons were inspected and found free of pests. Comments are due Oct. 31.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service on Aug. 26 issued a proposed rule (here) to allow imports of persimmons into the U.S. from New Zealand, subject to certain requirements. Requirements would include orchard certification, orchard pest control, post-harvest safeguards, fruit culling, traceback, sampling, and treatment with either hot water or modified atmosphere treatment. The persimmons would also have to be accompanied by a certificate saying they meet all these requirements and were inspected and found free of pests. Comments are due Oct. 25.
On Aug. 25 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #23 for upland cotton will be established on Sept. 1, allowing importation of 14,260,197 kilograms (65,496 bales) of upland cotton (here). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Nov. 29 and entered into the U.S. by Feb. 27, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period April through June, the most recent three months for which data are available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of raspberries from Morocco into the continental U.S. (here). Under the proposed rule, the raspberries would have to be produced at a registered location under a “systems approach” to mitigate for the fungus Monilinia fructigena and would have to be inspected prior to exportation from Morocco and found free of this pest, APHIS said. The raspberries would have to be imported in commercial consignments and accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the Moroccan government, and would be subject to inspection at the U.S. port of entry. Comments on the proposal are due Oct. 25.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is reopening the period for comments on a recent proposed rule to allow imports of lemons from Chile into the continental U.S., it said (here). Under the agency's April 4 proposal, Chilean lemons would have to be grown at a registered farm and found free of the pest Brevipalpus chilensis in order to be eligible for importation (see 1604010018). Comments are now due Sept. 26.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture revised the appendices to its Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing Regulation for the 2016 tariff-rate quota year, in a final rule that takes effect Aug. 26 (here). USDA is making the changes to reflect the cumulative annual transfers from Appendix 1 to Appendix 2 for certain dairy product import licenses permanently surrendered by licensees or revoked by the Foreign Agricultural Service.