The Food Safety Inspection Service will begin reinspecting all shipments of imported Siluriformes fish and fish products (i.e., catfish) on Aug. 2, it said (here). Beginning on that date, “all shipments of imported Siluriformes fish and fish products must be presented at an Official Import Inspection Establishment for reinspection by FSIS personnel,” the agency said. FSIS had planned to begin mandatory reinspection in September, 18 months after it began its transitional period for taking over regulatory responsibilities for catfish from the Food and Drug Administration (see 1605040041), but recent legislation directed FSIS to begin reinspections immediately. “To apply for import reinspection, applicants, typically the Importer of Record, must submit a paper or an electronic inspection application form (FSIS Form 9540-1) to FSIS in advance of the shipment’s arrival, but no later than when the entry is filed” with CBP, the agency said. After Aug. 2, “FSIS will begin taking action in regard to imported fish product that has bypassed FSIS import reinspection, but entered commerce, i.e. ‘failure to present’ (FTP) product,” it said.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service offered some guidance on importing petunias after the agency learned of unauthorized imports of genetically engineered (GE) flowers in May, APHIS said in a June 26 bulletin (here). "APHIS is working closely with petunia breeders, growers, distributors, and importers to stop unauthorized importation and distribution of GE petunias," the agency said. APHIS posted several documents on the issue, including information on destroying GE petunias (here), testing GE petunias (here), using third-party labs to test petunias (here) and a list of petunia varieties that require authorization (here).

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will test an "offshore greenhouse certification program" for plant cuttings that could help mitigate pest risks for imported plants, the agency said in a June 26 bulletin (here). The initial six-month pilot will begin in October and include "greenhouse facilities in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Colombia that produce generally admissible, unrooted vegetative cuttings for import" into the U.S. The agency will use the pilot to test whether such certifications help reduce pest and disease risks for plant cuttings, it said. "APHIS will inspect and certify participating facilities this summer," it said. "For the duration of the pilot, facilities must adhere to the requirements outlined in the pilot framework. The pilot framework includes standard plant pest exclusion procedures, sanitation and traceability protocols, a summary of the greenhouse certification process, an explanation of how shipments will be handled at U.S. ports of entry, and next steps after the pilot’s conclusion in March 2018." The agency requested public comments within 30 days on the framework (here) about any changes that might be necessary before the test begins.

The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on June 22 announced Special Import Quota #9 for upland cotton will be established on June 29, allowing importation of 13,890,026 kilograms (63,796 bales) of upland cotton (here). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Sept. 26, 2017, and entered into the U.S. by Dec. 25, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period January 2017 through March 2017, the most recent three months for which data is available.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on June 22 announced a halt to all imports of fresh beef from Brazil due to “recurring concerns” over food safety and other issues, the Agriculture Department said (here). USDA has been examining all shipments of Brazilian meat products since March, and has refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef shipments, which is “substantially higher than the rejection rate of one percent of shipments from the rest of the world,” it said. Reasons for the rejections include “public health concerns, sanitary conditions, and animal health issues,” USDA said. “The Brazilian government had pledged to address those concerns, including by self-suspending five facilities from shipping beef to the United States. Today’s action to suspend all fresh beef shipments from Brazil supersedes the self-suspension,” it said. “The suspension of shipments will remain in place until the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture takes corrective action which the USDA finds satisfactory.”

Methyl bromide fumigation services in Boston are set to end, after the port’s only approved fumigation company announced plans to discontinue its services, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said on June 23 (here). Fumigation services will continue until the fumigator, General Environmental Services, exhausts its remaining supply of methyl bromide gas or by Sept. 1 at the latest, APHIS said. “Based on the amount of fumigant remaining, services will likely end before” Sept. 1, it said.

The Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to end the exemptions to "regulatory period" rules for several varietals of table grapes grown in southeastern California, it said in a notice (here). During the regulatory period, April 10 through July 10, imported shipments of Vitis vinifera table grape varieties must be inspected for size, quality and other requirements. Four original varieties of grapes -- The Emperor, Calmeria, Almeria and Ribier -- and 16 other genetically related grape varieties are exempt from import regulations because these varieties "were not grown within the production area," it said. The AMS proposal "would update the order’s regulations to remove all varietal exemptions including the original varietal exemptions and subsequent administrative exemptions," it said. Due to "extensive breeding programs, the number of different grape varieties cultivated in the production area has expanded," the agency said. "Now, varieties administratively exempted from the import regulation, such as the Red Globe variety, are being grown in the production area." Comments are due Aug. 22.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue told Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Mexican Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food Jose Calzada this week that food safety should be a “zero tolerance” issue in NAFTA, he said during a June 21 press gaggle as he traveled to Iowa aboard Air Force One (here). Perdue also told his counterparts that NAFTA should include provisions setting equivalency between the three parties’ food and food safety standards. U.S.-Canada Border Inspection Alliance President Walter Piatkowski in comments on NAFTA noted the difference between the U.S.'s zero-tolerance policy for listeria in food imports and Canada's tolerance level for the bacteria. He called for the U.S. to maintain its current agricultural inspection regime throughout NAFTA talks (see 1706150035). The meeting, which included a visit to the Port of Savannah, laid the groundwork for NAFTA negotiations, including some potentially contentious matters, Perdue said. “It was a great building relationship to develop the basis for discussions when maybe some of the discussions are not as comfortable as that -- when we have to discuss issues that we need to have very candid and direct family conversations about,” he said.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service proposes to allow imports of fresh pomegranates from Turkey, it said (here). Eligibility requirements would include grove registration, sanitation, and pest control measures; packinghouse registration and procedures designed to exclude quarantine pests; cold treatment; and procedures for packing, storing and shipping the pomegranate fruit, APHIS said. Shipments would also have to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the Turkish government. Comments are due Aug. 21.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of tree tomatoes from Ecuador, it said (here). To be eligible, tree tomatoes from Ecuador would have to be “produced in accordance with a systems approach that would include requirements for importation in commercial consignments, registration and monitoring of places of production, field monitoring and pest-control practices, trapping, and inspection for quarantine pests by the national plant protection organization of Ecuador,” APHIS said. Comments are due Aug. 21.