The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails June 22 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 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are asking for comments on a new paper: “State of the art on the initiatives and activities relevant to risk assessment and risk management of nanotechnologies in the food and agriculture sectors,” said the Food Safety and Inspection Service. This document is available for review at here. Comments should be sent to Masami Takeuchi (Masami.Takeuchi@fao.org) with a copy to Mina Kojima (kojimam@who.int) by no later than November 30.
Imports of Dracaena plants from Costa Rica to the continental U.S. will be allowed, with certain conditions, effective July 26, said the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in a final rule. The conditions will apply to plants less than 460 mm in length, which are currently allowed to be imported, and will also allow for the importation of plants over 460 mm and up to 1,371.6 mm in length, which are currently prohibited.
The Foreign Agricultural Service corrected its 2012 list of updated quantity trigger levels and applicable periods for products that may be subject to additional import duties under the safeguard provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced it created a new website (here) to provide stakeholders with information about the commodity import approval process for plants and plant products and give them the opportunity to consult with APHIS on risk assessments as they are being drafted.
On June 21 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for June 16-22:
The Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) established a new electronic working group on prioritization criteria for the re-evaluation of food additives by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), said the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The working group plans to (1) compile information from members and other organizations, including from the industry producing food additives, on the detailed list of the 107 food colors evaluated by JECFA since 1956; and (2) establish a prioritized list of food colors based on the prioritization tool, it said. Canada will lead the electronic working group. Observers interested in participating in this eWG should provide the name(s), official title, and email address of their representative(s) to Dr. Madeline Weld (madeline.weld@hc-sc.gc.ca) with a copy to the Canadian Codex contact point at Codex_Canada@hc-sc.gc.ca by July 6, 2012. Parties in the U.S. that are interested in contributing to the U.S. participation in this eWG should contact the U.S. Codex Office (USCodex@fsis.usda.gov).
The Department of Agriculture issued a proposed rule that would add reporting for pork (fresh, chilled, and frozen box/primal cuts) and distillers dried grain (DDG) to the Export Sales Reporting Requirements. All exporters of U.S. pork and DDG would be required to report weekly information on the export sales of pork and DDG to the Foreign Agriculture Service. Required reportable information would include the quantity, destination, and marketing year of all pork and DDG export sales, changes in sales, and shipments, USDA said. Comments on the proposed rule are due by Aug. 24.
On June 20 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports: