The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for the week of May 11 through May 17, 2012:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said it's reopening the period to submit comments on its proposed rule to provide for new risk-based conditions for the importation of live bovines and products derived from bovines with regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease), published in the Federal Register on March 16, 2012. APHIS is now accepting comments until June 14, 2012. Comments on the proposed rule were originally due by May 15, 2012, but APHIS said it will accept comments that were submitted in the interim period between that date and publication of this extension of the comment period.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin issuing permits for the importation into the continental U.S. of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia effective May 18, 2012, it said in a notice. APHIS said importation will be subject to the following phytosanitary measures: (1) must be imported as commercial shipments only; (2) each consignment must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Colombia, including an additional declaration for celery and spinach that each consignment has been inspected and is free of pests; and (3) each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival at the port of entry into the continental U.S.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails May 16, 2012, announcing changes to some 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 Commodity Credit Corporation published a final rule amending the regulation used to administer the Market Access Program (MAP). CCC said the amendments address: application requirements and activity plan requirements with relation to the Unified Export Strategy (UES) system; the eligibility of activities designed to address international market access issues; the list of eligible and ineligible contributions; evaluations, contracting procedures, and the compliance review and appeals process; etc.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service reports that the monographs for the toxicological evaluation of the veterinary drugs (Amoxicillin, Apramycin, Derquantel, Monensin, Monenpental, Narasin, and Triclabendazole), evaluated at the 75th meeting of the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in Rome on November 7-18, 2011, are now available on the FAO website here, and the WHO website here. Draft maximum residues limits (MRLs) for these compounds will be considered at the 20th Session of Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails May 14, 2012, announcing changes to some 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.