On June 4, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails June 4, 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 Food Safety and Inspection Service said the public meeting for the 35th Session or the Codex Alimentarius Commission will be June 5 in Washington, D.C. The public meeting will discuss U.S. draft positions for the items on the agenda for the Commission, including adoption of proposed standards and amendments to existing standards, the proposed revocation of existing standards, the approval of new work proposals and budgetary matters. The Commission will meet in Rome, Italy, July 2-7, 2012. Individuals may also participate via teleconference by calling 1-888-858-2144; Participant Code: 6208658. Agenda for the meeting with links to documents to be discussed available here.

Organic products certified in the U.S. or European Union may now be sold as organic in either market, under a new U.S.-EU equivalency partnership, announced the Department of Agriculture. The arrangement covers products exported from and certified in the U.S. or the EU only. All products traded under the partnership must be shipped with an organic import certificate, which shows the location where production occurred, identifies the organization that certified the organic product, and verifies that growers and handlers did not use prohibited substances and methods. In addition to certifying that the terms of the partnership were met, the certificates allow traded products to be tracked. According to USDA, U.S. crops produced using certain antibiotics and EU agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics, as well as EU aquatic animals, are excepted from the agreement.

On June 1, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:

The National Organic Program is changing listings for several substances and renewing 200 others that were scheduled to expire this year for substances allowed or prohibited in organic agriculture, said the Department of Agriculture. The final results of the NOP’s 2012 five year sunset review, which was sent to the Federal Register, renews over 200 listings and makes changes to the following substances, among on the National List, said USDA (unless otherwise noted, all renewals and changes are effective June 27, 2012):

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails May 31, 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 Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for the week of May 25 through May 31, 2012:

On May 30, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:

On May 25, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service published its 2012 World Trade Organization safeguard trigger levels in the Federal Register. However, FAS said the attached annex, which lists the quantity trigger levels for additional duties to be imposed on some products pursuant to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, erroneously listed the quantity triggers and time periods from last year. FAS said they will publish a correction in the Federal Register soon.