USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is notifying the Office of Management and Budget that it's planning to continue to collect information and data related to the potential introduction or spread of diseases resulting from the importation of small and exotic ruminants, it said in a Federal Register notice this week.
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is planning to revise the U.S. standards for grades of lemons by adding a definition for "seedless lemons," it said in a Federal Register notice released Sept. 10. AMS also plans to incorporate marking requirements for lemons meeting the seedless definition, the notice said. Comments on these proposed changes are due Nov. 10.
The Fish and Wildlife Service adjusted, effective Aug. 18, the civil penalties for violating FWS statutes and regulations, the agency said in a Federal Register notice. The adjustments are to account for inflation, FWS said.
The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service has set a $350 fee to be charged for each license issued authorizing imports of certain dairy articles according to the 2026 tariff rate quota year, it said in a Federal Register notice. The fee amount, effective Aug. 15, covers calendar year 2026; licenses are issued on a calendar year basis.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will stop accepting paper submissions of the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) 505 or 505B form as of Jan. 1, 2026, APHIS said in an emailed alert. Filers will need to submit their declarations using CBP's ACE or the USDA-APHIS Lacey Act Web Governance System (LAWGS). Those who submit a paper declaration after Jan. 1 will be violating the Lacey Act, APHIS said.
Fruit imported from New Zealand no longer needs documentation declaring that the fruit is free of the light brown apple moth (LBAM), the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a Federal Register notice. This deregulation action is effective July 25.
The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is asking the Office of Management and Budget to allow the agency to continue information collection on imports of poultry meat and poultry products from the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora, saying that these two states pose negligible risk of introducing Newcastle disease, it said in a Federal Register notice.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is seeking public comments on an information collection related to plant pest and noxious weeds regulations. APHIS collects information so that the agency can evaluate the risks associated with the importation or interstate movement of plant pests, noxious weeds, and soil, under the Plant Protection Act. The information collection also can assist with developing risk mitigations, if necessary, for the importation or interstate movement of plant pests, noxious weeds and soil, APHIS said. Comments are due by Sept. 22.
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is allowing imports of Phalaenopsis spp. orchid plants from Germany and the Netherlands to the U.S., provided that the plants are in approved growing media and have met all relevant requirements listed in USDA's Plants for Planting Manual and "detailed in a bilateral workplan." The changes take effect July 22.
The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service plans to remove "obsolete, unnecessary, and outdated provisions in title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulation," which includes removing regulations for temporary duties on imports of Canadian fresh fruit and vegetables when certain specified conditions are met, it said in a Federal Register notice. The change is effective July 18.