USDA to bring karnal bunt import rules in line with domestic rules

USDA to bring karnal bunt import rules in line with domestic rules    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said it plans to bring its import regulations for regions infected with wheat karnal bunt more in line with its domestic rules.
   The agency said its new rules should list infected regions and provide handling requirements for farm machinery that comes in contact with karnal bunt. The wheat disease is easily transmitted by spores.
   Karnal bunt is found in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Pakistan, and portions of Mexico and the United States. To ensure retention of U.S. export markets, USDA has regulations in place to prevent the further spread of karnal blunt within the United States.
   As a member of the World Trade Organization and International Plant Protection Convention, the United States has agreed not to impose more stringent requirements on imports than it imposes on the movement of similar commodities domestically. The USDA said it wants to amend its karnal bunt import regulations to that they are “substantively equivalent” to the country’s domestic karnal bunt regulations.