WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2005 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced it will consider written requests for extensions of the time period for raw cane sugar shipments to enter the United States, against the U.S. fiscal year 2005 import tariff-rate quota (TRQ), in response to market disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Sugar from a qualified supplying country that has a share of the fiscal year 2005 raw sugar TRQ would be permitted to enter U.S. Customs territory no later than Oct. 11, 2005, a maximum extension of 11 days past the previous ending date, Sept. 30, 2005.

This announcement does not change the level of any U.S. sugar import tariff-rate quotas, and will apply only to raw cane sugar (not refined sugar). A request for an extension must be made in writing to Ron Lord, Deputy Director, Import Policies and Programs Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, Ronald.lord@usda.gov, or fax a request to (202) 720-0876.

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