De Minimis Entries
According to an announcement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service had advised that an entry type 86 (de minimis) filed with CBP does not require a Lacey Act import declaration.
Imports from Germany
Effective Jan. 10 and until further notice, APHIS has imposed restrictions on the importation of certain animal commodities originating from or transiting Germany based on the confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in water buffalos. These restrictions include (1) a prohibition on imports of live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and their germplasm, (2) a prohibition, with limited exceptions, on unprocessed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts, and (3) an import permit requirement for imports of processed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts.
Poultry from Japan and Canada
APHIS has imposed the restrictions listed below on importations from Miyazaki prefecture (effective Jan. 11) and Chiba prefecture (effective Jan. 12) in Japan, and zones PCZ-256 (effective Dec. 27) and -258 (effective Jan. 2) in Ontario, Canada, based on determinations that highly-pathogenic avian influenza exists in domestic birds in these areas.
- Imports of unprocessed avian products and byproducts and certain fresh poultry products originating from or transiting these areas are prohibited.
- Imports of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, and avian hatching eggs originating from or transiting these areas are prohibited.
- Processed avian products and byproducts originating from or transiting these areas, imported as cargo, must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products were treated according to APHIS requirements.
- Importation as cargo of fresh, unprocessed shell/table eggs and other egg products, void of the shell (i.e., liquid eggs, dried egg whites), originating from or transiting these areas is prohibited unless the products are consigned from the port of arrival directly to an APHIS-approved breaking and pasteurization facility. An import permit and/or certificate is not required for these shipments when consigned directly to an APHIS-approved establishment.
Wasabi from Indonesia
APHIS is considering a request to allow imports of fresh rhizomes of wasabi from Indonesia into the U.S. for consumption and has drafted a pest risk assessment that lists the potential pests likely to remain on this commodity upon importation if no mitigation is applied. Comments on this assessment, including information that might lead APHIS to revise its assessment before identifying pest mitigations and proceeding with the commodity import approval process, are due by March 17.
Peppers from Spain
Effective Jan. 15, APHIS has updated the requirements for imports of fresh bell peppers from Spain by adding a new requirement that the national plant protection organization of Spain adhere to an operational workplan jointly developed with APHIS detailing the activities and responsibilities the NPPO will carry out to meet the systems approach requirements for fresh bell peppers, which includes mitigation measures for Mediterranean fruit flies.
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