Kenya
The Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service reports that U.S. products arriving to Kenya now face mandatory conformity inspection on arrival to port. FAS states that this change alters established compliance procedures for U.S. exporters and is likely to increase clearance times, documentation requirements, and port-related costs.
An FAS notice explains that the Kenyan Bureau of Standards shifted U.S.-origin products from pre-shipment inspection to destination inspection following the expiration of their pre-export verification of conformity contract with the Société Générale de Surveillance. As a result, as of Feb. 9 SGS no longer serves as KEBS's inspection agent for U.S. exports, leaving those functions to KEBS inspectors. With this change KEBS has also updated the inspection fee to 0.6 percent of the customs value (minimum $300, maximum $3,500).
Cyprus
Effective Jan. 23 and until further notice USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is restricting the importation of certain animal commodities originating from or transiting the region of Cyprus in which the government of the Republic of Cyprus exercises effective control based on the confirmation of foot-and-mouth disease in domestic cattle and sheep. As a result, APHIS is now restricting imports from all parts of the island of Cyprus due to FMD.
Applicable restrictions include the following.
- The importation of live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and their germplasm originating from or transiting through Cyprus is prohibited.
- Processed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts (including milk), if arriving as cargo, must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the items were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements.
- Unprocessed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts (including milk), if arriving as cargo, are prohibited. In some cases such items can be imported if consigned directly from the port of arrival to an eligible USDA-approved establishment.
Poultry
APHIS has imposed restrictions on imports of avian commodities from the following areas as of the dates indicated due to concerns about highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
- Japan: Iwate prefecture (Feb. 21) and Hokkaido prefecture (March 5)
- Canada: zones PCZ-321 in Ontario (Feb. 19) and PCZ-FV2 in British Columbia (Feb. 23)
These restrictions include the following.
- Importation of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, avian hatching eggs, unprocessed avian products and byproducts, and certain fresh poultry products 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 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, APHIS has removed restrictions on imports of poultry and related products originating from the following areas as of the dates indicated.
- Japan: Gifu prefecture (Feb. 23)
- Canada: zones PCZ-320 in Quebec (Feb. 25), PCZ-FV5 in British Columbia (March 4), PCZ-310 in Ontario (March 4), and PCZ-319 in Quebec (March 4)
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