The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) posted instructions on applying for annual import licenses for the 2020 dairy tariff rate quota (TRQ), which opens on January 1, 2020. Individuals must apply between September 3, 2019 and October 15, 2019.
This TRQ covers all dairy products from cow’s milk, except for soft-ripened cheeses such as Brie, and includes blue cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. To enter at the low TRQ rate an importer must obtain a license from FAS.
Dates and Deadlines:
October 15, 2019: Deadline for receipt of License applications.
December 20, 2019 (approximately): FAS issues first notices of calendar year 2020 licenses to licensees.
January 1, 2020: First day of validity for calendar year 2020 licenses.
March 2, 2020 (approximately): FAS issues final notice of calendar year 2020 licenses to licensees.
March 16, 2020: The license fee for each license issued is due. For any licenses issued after March 15, they are due no later than 10 days from the date of issuance.
The license fee for 2020 is $300, the same as for 2019. The fee is based on FAS’ estimated expenses to administer the licensing system.
General information is available on the Dairy Import License Program.
If you have any questions regarding obtaining dairy import licenses for the 2020 tariff rate quota period, Livingston can help! Please contact your Livingston account manager, or our U.S. Regulatory Affairs Group at usregaffairs@livingstonintl.com