Know Your US APHIS Requirements| Agricultural Importers 2023
Know Your US APHIS Requirements| Agricultural Importers 2023: The US Department of Agriculture issued a statement earlier this month asking for comments on the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) online portal, which aims to streamline the flow of information on regulations for agricultural items imported into the US.
APHIS is defined as follows on the USDA website:
“APHIS plays a critical role in ensuring the free flow of agricultural trade by keeping U.S. agricultural industries free of pests and diseases and certifying that the millions of agricultural and food products shipped to markets around the world meet the entry requirements of the importing countries.
APHIS ensures that all imported agricultural products from other countries that are sent to the United States meet the Agency's entry standards for pests and diseases of agriculture.”
Meet the online portal for Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR).
Importers can go online and use the portal to find out what requirements they need to meet based on the type of goods they're bringing in. Agriculture imports are divided into seven categories.
- Plants for Propagation and Planting
- Plants and Plant-Related Items Propagation is not permitted.
- Byproducts and Animal Products
- Soil and Amendments to Soil
- Medications (Phytosanitary treatments for quarantine-significant plant pests on imported and domestic commodities)
- Steps to take (Guidance for port operations, including phytosanitary treatments; some information may be accessible to internal users only)
- Other Things to Consider (Tools, materials, or machinery that can act as carriers for pests, including vehicles, containers, bags, packing materials, and other similar articles)
You can also conduct research based on various groupings, such as crop groups, port groups, and geographic regions. Importers who visit the site will notice that certain information is still missing, but the tool is planned to be completed in fiscal year 2023, according to the USDA statement. The goal is for this tool to eventually replace the USDA Reference Manuals, as well as a collection of additional data. (The manuals can be found here for reference.). The USDA is optimistic that this will make agricultural importation easier for customs officials and trade professionals. They list the following advantages for the many stakeholders involved.
ACIR stakeholders receive the following benefits from APHIS:
- A search tool for commodity import data that is easy to use.
- All applicable import criteria for a particular commodity are compiled in one spot.
- Self-service answers to questions about entrance requirements.
Importers will be able to use ACIR to evaluate whether or not they need to apply for a permit based on the commodities they want to bring into the US. In order to process plant and plant product permit applications, the electronic filing system (eFile) for permits, licensing, and registration will employ the import required data as specified in ACIR.
APHIS is now seeking comments from importers on ACIR, as the first module, Plants and Plant Products not for Propagation, is in beta testing phase. As they continue to develop the tool beyond 2023, the feedback offered by users will be extremely helpful in improving the user experience and functionality.
If you want to import in the U.S, feel free to contact us (ISFentry), especially at any U.S port of entry. You can have us for Free Import Consulting