The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced July 16 that Special Import Quota #13 for upland cotton will be established July 23, allowing importation of 3,892,413 kilograms (17,878 bales) of upland cotton. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Oct. 20, and entered into the U.S. by Jan. 18. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the March-May period, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced July 9 that Special Import Quota #10 for upland cotton will be established July 16, allowing importation of 3,892,413 kilograms (17,878 bales) of upland cotton, again down sharply from previous quota periods (see 2006260010). The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Oct. 13, and entered into the U.S. by Jan. 11, 2021. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the March-May 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 2021 (Oct. 1, 2020 - Sept. 30, 2021).
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending seed labeling, testing and certification requirements in its Federal Seed Act regulations, it said in a final rule. Revisions to the regulations, which cover interstate commerce in seeds, “add certain seed species to the lists of covered kinds of seed and update the lists to reflect current scientific nomenclature; update regulations related to seed quality, germination and purity standards, and acceptable seed testing methods; and update seed certification and recertification requirements, including new eligibility standards and the recognition of current breeding techniques,” AMS said. “This rule aligns FSA regulations with current industry practices, harmonizes FSA testing methods with industry standards, and clarifies confusing or contradictory language in the existing regulations,” it said. The final rule takes effect Aug. 6.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is working to streamline the application process for soil import permits, it said in an emailed bulletin. “Beginning later this summer, soil import permit applicants” using Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Form 525 “will no longer have to sign a compliance agreement for the chemical or physical analysis of regulated imported soil or imported soil for decontamination by incineration or landfill disposal,” APHIS said. “Instead, APHIS will incorporate the safeguarding requirements previously contained in these compliance agreements into the soil import permit conditions. This action will eliminate duplicate paperwork and help reduce the time it takes APHIS to issue soil import permits,” it said. APHIS will announce the start date for the new procedures in a future message, it said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will delay its deadline for ACE filing of its “APHIS Core” partner government agency (PGA) message set until January 2021, it said in an emailed bulletin June 30. APHIS had originally set a mandatory use date of Aug. 3, but “in response to stakeholder concerns about operational and economic setbacks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, APHIS will publish a second Federal Register notice in the coming weeks that will delay implementation,” the agency said. “This action will give the trade community time to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for this change.” In the meantime, filers should continue to prepare for mandatory filing, APHIS said. The Aug. 3 deadline was set to include APHIS-regulated plants, plant products, animal products, or live dog imports, besides Lacey Act data already required in ACE, but was not going to include live animal imports, APHIS had said.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced June 25 that Special Import Quota #10 for upland cotton will be established July 2, allowing importation of 7,445,241 kg (34,195 bales) of upland cotton. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Sept. 29, and entered into the U.S. by Dec. 28. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for February-April, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Agricultural Marketing Service is amending U.S. Standards for Grades of topped carrots, bunched carrots and carrots with short-trimmed tops, it said in a notice. “AMS is adding more U.S. No. 1 grades to accommodate carrots of colors other than orange, orange red, and orange scarlet,” the agency said. Current U.S. No. 1 grades will remain unchanged. AMS is also “removing the Unclassified section and renumbering sections due to the additional grades,” it said. The change take effect July 24.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on June 18 announced that Special Import Quota #9 for upland cotton will be established on June 26, allowing importation of 7,445,241 kg (34,195 bales) of upland cotton, sharply down from 11,005,386 kg(50,547 bales) in the last quota period. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Sept. 22, 2020, and entered into the U.S. by Dec. 21, 2020. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period February 2020 through April 2020, the most recent three months for which data is available.
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on June 11 announced that Special Import Quota #8 for upland cotton will be established on June 19, allowing importation of 11,005,386 kilograms (50,547 bales) of upland cotton. The quota will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Sept. 15, 2020, and entered into the U.S. by Dec. 14, 2020. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period January 2020 through March 2020, the most recent three months for which data is available.