On May 22 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The Food and Drug Administration is allowing more time for comments on its proposed revisions to nutrition facts labeling for food (here) and (here). FDA’s proposed rules would revise the information required on nutrition facts labels and require that manufacturers keep records on added sugar, the amount of dietary fiber, and certain vitamin contents (see 14022713). FDA is also proposing to increase recommended serving sizes to bring them into line with current eating habits, and would require an additional column of nutrition information for packages that contain more than one serving but could be consumed in one sitting. Comments are now due Aug. 1.
The Cheese Importers Association of America (CIAA) urged the Food and Drug Administration not to paint with too broad a brush as it devises its list of high-risk foods subject to increased recordkeeping requirements. In comments dated May 21 submitted in response to FDA’s proposed criteria for designating high risk foods, the CIAA said the agency shouldn’t use overly broad product categories that would lump safe products in with foods that actually are high-risk.
On May 22 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes May 22 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 Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #15 for upland cotton that will be established on May 29, allowing importation of 14,941,776 kilograms (68,627 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Aug. 26, and entered into the U.S. by Nov. 24. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally-adjusted average rate for the period October 2013 through December 2013, the most recent three months for which data are available.
U.S. potato exports are now being allowed access to all of Mexico after new Mexican potato import guidelines took effect May 19, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report. Table stock potatoes and potatoes for processing may now be exported to all of Mexico, as long as they meet requirements set by the Mexican plant health regulatory agency Senasica (here) and the U.S.-Mexican work plan (here). The U.S. and Mexico have been negotiating expanded access for U.S. potatoes for over 10 years, said USDA, and Mexico formally decided to expand access in March (see 14032631). Prior to May 19, U.S. potatoes could only be exported to destinations within the 16 mile border zone. Mexican potatoes have been eligible to ship to the U.S. since April 2014.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a request from the Port of Houston Authority to expand FTZ 84 to include two more sites in Harris County, Texas. The FTZ applied for the expansion in July 2013.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board announced its approval of the reorganization under the Alternative Site Framework of FTZ 15 in Kansas City. The zone will now cover all of Andrew, Bates, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass, Chariton, Clay, Clinton, Cooper, Daviess, DeKalb, Henry, Howard, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Pettis, Platte, Ray and Saline Counties in Missouri. Under the Alternative Site Framework reorganization, companies will now be able to request subzone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a request from the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board. to expand the service area of FTZ 39 to include Hunt County, Texas. The FTZ previously included Dallas, Tarrant, Kaufman, Collin, Grayson and Denton Counties within its service area