From April 6 to April 10, 2012, the Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails April 13 & 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 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is requesting comments by June 15, 2012, on its risk analysis and draft phytosanitary measures for the importation into the continental U.S. of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt, which is currently not allowed. After reviewing the comments, if the overall conclusions of the risk analysis and the Administrator’s determination of risk remain unchanged, APHIS will authorize the importation of fresh strawberry fruit from Egypt into the continental U.S. subject to the requirements specified in the risk management document.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is seeking comments by June 15, 2012, on a proposed rule that would amend the regulations concerning the importation of fruits and vegetables to allow the importation of fresh bananas from the Philippines into the continental U.S.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a final rule, effective May 16, 2012, amending the fruits and vegetables regulations to allow the importation of fresh pitaya fruit from Central America (i.e., from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) into the continental U.S.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued a final rule, effective May 16, 2012, amending the regulations governing the importation of clementines from Spain by removing from the regulations the number of clementines per consignment intended for export to the U.S. that are required to be sampled by APHIS inspectors. In place of this number, the regulations will say that inspectors will cut and inspect a sample of clementines determined by APHIS.
The Court of International Trade is requesting comments by May 14, 2012, on a Notice of Proposed Amendments to the Rules for Review and Comment. The proposals pertain to CIT Rule 54.1, and include, among other things, a requirement that applications for attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act be filed within 30 days after the date of final judgment (the Rule previously stated that applications must be filed within 30 days after the court enters final judgment). A new sentence also says the 30-day statutory period for filing an application under the Equal Access to Justice Act begins to run after the expiration of the time period for filing an appeal. Proposed amendments to Rule 54.1 are available here.
A Pennsylvania man was charged with smuggling counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pills into the U.S. The case is being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. An HSI investigation revealed that Randy Hucks rented several mail boxes at a U.S. Postal Facility in Philadelphia on behalf of businesses that he allegedly owned under such names as Bargain Basket Inc., Fashionista Inc. and Fashionista Emporium Inc. As part of the alleged scheme, Hucks illegally imported 10,188 counterfeit Viagra pills and 3,040 counterfeit Cialis pills from factories in China. If convicted, Hucks faces up to 100 years in federal prison and a fine of $5 million.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of April 13, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of April 12, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.