Germany
Effective March 6 the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service lifted its restrictions on the importation of certain animal commodities originating from or transiting Germany after determining that Germany has eradicated an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. These restrictions included (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.
Taiwan
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service reports that Taiwan has extended through Sept. 30 its tariff and business tax exemptions for several agricultural commodities. Under these measures the tariff on beef and selected butter products and milk powder have been reduced by 50 percent, the tariff on wheat has been lowered from 6.5 percent to zero, and the business tax on imported corn, soybeans, and wheat has been reduced from five percent to zero.
Saudi Arabia
FAS reported March 11 that U.S. beef exports to Saudi Arabia no longer need to be from a USDA export verification program. Separately, Saudi Arabia now permits bovine-derived tallow in animal feed, including ruminant feed. FAS states that these measures are likely to lower trade barriers and increase U.S. beef exports to Saudi Arabia.
Poultry
APHIS has imposed the restrictions listed below on importations from the regions indicated due to highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
- Montenegro (effective March 4)
- zones PCZ-FV10 and -FV11 in British Columbia, Canada (effective Feb. 24)
- Imports of unprocessed avian products and byproducts and certain fresh poultry products originating from or transiting these areas are prohibited, with certain exceptions.
- 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.
Korea
APHIS has drafted a pest risk assessment describing potential quarantine pests associated with the importation for consumption of fresh sweet potato roots from South Korea. APHIS is accepting through May 12 any information that might lead it to revise this assessment before it identifies pest mitigations and proceeds with the commodity import approval process.
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