On Aug. 9 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reached a deal with Brazil that will allow for trade in beef and beef products, it said (here). U.S. beef and beef products will be allowed access to Brazil for the first time since Brazil banned U.S. beef in 2003 over concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy, USDA said. “In a separate decision,” the Food Safety and Inspection Service “recently determined” that Brazil’s food safety system for meat products is equivalent to the U.S. good safety system, meaning fresh (chilled or frozen) beef can be safely imported from Brazil. “Following a multi-year science based review consistent with U.S. food safety regulations for countries that export meat, poultry and egg products to the U.S., FSIS is amending the list of eligible countries and products authorized for export to the United States to allow fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from Brazil,” USDA said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is recognizing 14 regions as having negligible risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, it said (here). The decision to concur with the recommendations of the World Organization for Animal Health’s risk classifications means U.S. restrictions on importation of live bovines and bovine products will be relaxed (see 13110403). The new classifications apply to the following countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, India, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia and Switzerland.
On Aug. 8 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow importation of fresh pomegranates (here) and figs (here) from Peru into the continental U.S., it said in two notices that take effect Aug. 10. Imports will have to be in commercial consignments, meet treatment requirements and be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Peruvian government. Each shipment will be subject to inspection upon arrival in the U.S., APHIS said.
On Aug. 5 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Aug. 3 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
On Aug. 3 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Aug. 3 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables and flowers.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations to decrease the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments on imports collected under the Cotton Research and Promotion Program (here). The revised value in the direct final rule is $0.011012, a decrease of $0.001001 per kilogram. The decrease reflects a fall in the average price of Upland cotton received by U.S. farmers during the period January through December 2015. The change takes effect Oct. 4, unless adverse comments are received by Sept. 6.