The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on April 20 announced Special Import Quota #26 for upland cotton will be established on April 27, allowing importation of 13,588,518 kilograms (62,411 bales) of upland cotton (here). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than July 25, 2017, and entered into the U.S. by Oct. 23, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period December 2016 through February 2017, the most recent three months for which data is available.

The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on April 13 announced Special Import Quota #25 for upland cotton will be established on April 20, allowing importation of 13,588,518 kilograms (62,411 bales) of upland cotton (here). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than July 18, 2017, and entered into the U.S. by Oct. 16, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period December 2016 through February 2017, the most recent three months for which data is available.

The Agricultural Marketing Service seeks comments on an information collection related to imports of fruits, vegetables and nuts that would be subject to federal grade standards but are imported for an exempt purpose, it said (here). For imports of avocados, grapefruit, kiwifruit, non-Spanish olives, oranges, table grapes, Irish potatoes, onions, tomatoes, dates not for processing, walnuts, raisins, pistachios and hazelnuts, which are subject to grade standards, importers may submit a form declaring they are exempt if the imports are for processing, charity, animal feed, seed and distribution to relief agencies. AMS is changing the name of the form from FV-6 to SC-6, it said. Comments are due May 30.

A proposed assessment on imported organic products for a marketing order would be burdensome for apparel and footwear importers and could result in reduced use of organic fibers, the American Apparel and Footwear Association said in comments submitted to the Agricultural Marketing Service dated March 16 (here). AAFA voiced its “strong opposition” to the organic research, promotion and information order which, proposed by AMS in January (see 1701170017), would set a 0.1% assessment on imports of organic products by importers that bring in over $250,00 worth of such products each year.

The Agricultural Marketing Service is reopening the comment period on its proposal to amend its U.S. Standards for Grades for shelled and unshelled walnuts to include red-colored walnuts and remove the “unclassified” grade (see 1611230026), it said (here). Comments on the proposed rule are now due April 24.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is further delaying until May 26 the effective date of a recent final rule allowing importation of lemons from northwest Argentina into the continental U.S., it said (here). The final rule, which was originally set to take effect Jan. 23 (see 1612230018), was delayed until March 27 to comply with a memorandum issued by the Trump administration to all executive branch agencies (see 1701230031). APHIS now says it needs more time to consider stakeholder input it received after the first delay.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced strict reinspection and testing requirements for meat imported from Brazil, it said (here). The new requirements come amid allegations of bribes paid to Brazilian meat inspectors to allow the sale of expired meats, which has already resulted in bans on “at least some Brazilian meat imports” into Japan, Mexico, the European Union and China. “While none of the slaughter or processing facilities implicated in the Brazilian scandal have shipped meat products to the United States, FSIS immediately instituted additional pathogen testing of all shipments of raw beef and ready-to-eat products from Brazil upon hearing reports of the Brazilian investigation,” FSIS said.

The Agricultural Marketing Service renewed the status of 187 substances on its National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for use in organic crop production and foods labeled as organic, it said (here). As a result, these substances will retain their current status -- either allowed or prohibited in organic production, depending on the substance – until 2022, the AMS said. See the notice for the full list. AMS also recently proposed to end exemptions that allow for the use of 11 substances in organic products (see 1701170020). Both actions are part of the 2017 sunset review of the National List.

The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation on March 2 announced Special Import Quota #24 for upland cotton will be established on March 9, allowing importation of 12,906,977 kilograms (59,281 bales) of upland cotton (here), down from 13,556,910 kilograms (62,266 bales) in the previously announced quota (see 1702240021). It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than June 6, 2017, and entered into the U.S. by Sept. 4, 2017. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally adjusted average rate for the period November through January , the most recent three months for which data are available.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently updated its questions and answers document on new Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) fees for treatment services (here). APHIS has set a new $237 fee for fumigation and cold treatment services monitored by the agency, set to be phased in over a period of five years (see 1510260080). The first stage, a fee of $47 for treatment services, took effect on Dec. 28, 2015, increased to $95 in December 2016, and will rise to $142 in December 2017.