On Aug. 28 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:

The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #3 for upland cotton that will be established on Sept. 4, allowing importation of 14,741,821 kilograms (67,709 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 2, and entered into the U.S. by March 2, 2015. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally-adjusted average rate for the period March through May, the most recent three months for which data are available.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow the importation of chilled and frozen beef from Northern Argentina. The proposed rule would adopt the requirements currently in place for fresh beef and ovine meat from Uruguay, including inspections, restrictions on the location where the animal is raised and contact with other animals. In the same proposed rule, APHIS is also recognizing the Northern Argentina region as free of rinderpest. Comments are due Oct. 28.

On Aug. 27 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Aug. 27 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 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its fruits and vegetables regulations to recognize parts of Australia as free of certain plant pests. Effective Aug. 29, the APHIS final rule recognizes the Australian states of New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria as free of Mediterranean fruit fly. It also recognizes Western Australia as free of Queensland fruit fly.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is loosening restrictions on importing live ruminants and swine from a region in Argentina, in a final rule that takes effect Oct. 28. The final rule recognizes the Patagonia South and Patagonia North B regions as free of rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease. But APHIS is not completely getting rid of import restrictions on live swine and ruminants from Patagonia because of the region’s proximity to countries that are affected by the diseases, it said.

On Aug. 26 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Aug. 26 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 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of fresh citrus from areas of South Africa where citrus black spot has been known to occur. The proposed rule would allow imports of grapefruit, sweet oranges, mandarins, lemons and tangelos, subject to requirements for shipment traceability, packinghouse registration and procedures, and cold treatment. Citrus could only be imported in commercial consignments and would have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate from the South African government. Comments are due Oct. 27.