Cotton
The Department of Agriculture announced May 28 the Great American Cotton Plan, a comprehensive initiative to promote domestic cotton consumption, increase domestic cotton demand and production, improve cotton trade, and protect cotton growers from adverse risk.
With respect to improving cotton trade, the plan includes (1) implementing a three-point trade plan to expand export opportunities for U.S. cotton, (2) secured commitments from Indonesia and Bangladesh that will support future U.S. cotton purchases and textile production using U.S. cotton, and (3) continued USDA support of cotton exports through the Market Access Program and COTTON USA™ licensing initiatives.
Tariff Increases
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service reports that Burma increased its import duties on various consumer goods, including food products, effective May 1. The new higher rates are within Burma’s World Trade Organization-committed bound rates but represent a near doubling from previously applied tariffs. FAS advises U.S. exporters to discuss potential application and commercial ramifications of these higher duties with their Burmese importers.
Poultry
Effective on the dates indicated, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service imposed restrictions on imports of avian commodities from the following areas due to concerns about highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
- zone PCZ-329 in Saskatchewan, Canada (May 12)
- zone PCZ-330 in Alberta, Canada (May 19)
These restrictions include the following.
- Importation of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, and avian hatching eggs is prohibited.
- Importation as cargo of processed avian products and byproducts must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the goods were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements.
- Importation as cargo of unprocessed avian products and byproducts (including eggs and egg products and meat) is prohibited with limited exceptions (e.g., in some cases these may be imported if consigned directly from the port of arrival to an eligible USDA-approved establishment).
- Importation as cargo of fresh, unprocessed shell/table eggs and egg products, void of the shell (e.g., liquid eggs and dried egg whites) is prohibited unless they 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 in such cases.
Separately, effective May 26 APHIS removed restrictions on imports of poultry and related products originating from the sanitary control zone of the Metropolitana region in Chile.
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