The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to amend its requirements for imported Beta avocados to move up by two weeks the earliest date that Beta avocados may be marketed, it said in a notice released Sept. 19. The change also applies to avocados grown in South Florida. AMS said a study it conducted found Beta avocados are maturing earlier due to “climate conditions and cultural practices.” The change doesn’t apply to Hass, Fuerte, Zutano and Edranol varieties of avocados, which are currently exempt from the maturity requirements for avocados but are still subject to AMS grade regulations, unchanged by this proposed rule. Comments are due Nov. 19.
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a direct final rule that amends the Cotton Board Rules and Regulations by decreasing the value assigned to imported cotton for the purposes of calculating supplemental assessments collected for use by the Cotton Research and Promotion Program.
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is seeking comments on the updates it has made on documentation guidelines related to animal-raising or environmental-related claims on meat or poultry product raising. FSIS says the updated guideline "includes changes made in response to updated scientific information, FSIS sampling data, askFSIS questions, public comments, petitions, and other meetings with Agency stakeholders." The agency is accepting comments through Nov. 12.
USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are accepting applications for new members to sit on agricultural trade advisory committees, the agencies said this week. Applications are being accepted for six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees -- covering animals, fruits and vegetables, grains and more -- as well as the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee, which advises the administration on the implementation and enforcement of trade agreements and trade policy. Members serve four-year terms without compensation. Applications are due by 5 p.m. EDT Sept. 20.
USDA is revising the appendices to its Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Regulation for the 2024 tariff-rate quota year, it said in a notice. The agency is transferring the amounts for certain dairy articles from the historical license category (Appendix 1) to the lottery (nonhistorical) license category (Appendix 2) pursuant to the Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing regulations for the 2024 quota year.
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service will charge $325 for the 2025 tariff-rate quota year for each license issued to a person or firm by the USDA authorizing the importation of certain dairy articles that are subject to TRQs set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, it said in a notice. The new fee is $50 lower than the fee charged for 2024 TRQ year licenses (see 2308300040).
The Agricultural Marketing Service renewed the status of 47 substances on its National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for use in organic crop production and foods labeled as organic, it said in a notice released Aug. 7. As a result, these substances will retain their current status -- either allowed or prohibited in organic production, depending on the substance – until 2030, AMS said. See the notice for the full list.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is planning to recognize Costa Rica as being free of classical swine fever (CSF). APHIS conducted a risk evaluation that will be available for public review and seeks public comments on this proposed decision through Sept. 6, it said in a notice.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service appears set to allow imports of fresh cape gooseberry fruit from Peru, if the fruit passes one or more designated phytosanitary measures. It seeks public comment on a pest risk analysis it designed to screen for the pests that might require quarantine or allow entry of Physalis peruviana, the Peruvian fruit.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will phase out its Plants for Planting and Treatment manuals, and will relocate information on import requirements found in the manuals to its Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements database, APHIS said July 29. The manuals will still be available to APHIS and CBP staff on an “internal website” until April 1, and will be updated “as needed.” After that date, “the manuals will be available for reference only,” APHIS said. Training and outreach materials to help new ACIR users are available on the APHIS website.