Miscellaneous International Trade Notices
Washington Trade Daily reports that the Bush Administration expects to formally notify Congress of its intent to sign a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Panama by the end of March, so that the FTA will be considered under current Trade Promotion Authority. The article adds that the text is currently undergoing the routine review known as the "legal scrub" and the FTA is expected to be signed in May or June. (WTD, dated 03/03/07, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
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1. Panama FTA Expected to be Signed in Spring/Summer 2007
2. Retailers Want Staggered LA/LB Vessel Arrivals to Alleviate Weekend Crunch
American Shipper reports that retailers are pining for staggered Los Angeles and Long Beach vessel arrivals to alleviate the weekend crunch. According to the article, the problem is that currently ships tend to arrive into L.A. and Long Beach in clusters Thursdays through Sunday (most likely due to arrivals from Asian markets). The article adds that L.A. and Long Beach stretch capacity to the max on three days of the week and are not being used to their potential for the rest of the week. (American Shipper Pub February 2007, www.americanshipper.com)
3. Potential Fire Danger for Large Ships with Containers above Deck
The Journal of Commerce reports that container ships, especially the new, large ships carrying 75% of their containers above deck, could be in trouble if a fire broke out at sea on one of the containers stacked high above deck as the fire would be virtually impossible to control because the crew would not be able to suffocate it like they could if the fire broke out below deck. The article adds that not enough is being done to ensure that the rules are followed for containers carrying hazardous materials and the improper shipment of hazmat cargoes is widely assumed to have contributed to certain recent fires aboard container ships. (JoC, dated 02/05/07, www.joc.com)
4. Officials Meet to Renew U.S-Mexico Consultative Committee on Agriculture
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has issued a press release announcing that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns will travel to Mexico City to discuss final implementation provisions of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the Mexican Agriculture and Economy Secretaries and to renew the U.S.-Mexico Consultative Committee on Agriculture. (FAS PR 0027-07, dated 03/01/07, available at http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/PressRelease/pressrel_dout.asp?Entry=valid&PrNum=0027-07)
5. TSA Publishes Analysis for Proposed Rule on Rail Transportation Security
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued a notice which places in the Federal Register the entire Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) for the proposed rule to enhance the security of the rail transportation system. TSA states that it inadvertently omitted the summary of the IRFA from the proposed rule when it was published. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/09/07 news, 07010935, for BP summary of the proposed rule.) (TSA IRFA notice, D/N TSA-2006-26514, FR Pub 02/15/07, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-715.pdf)
6. CBP Chicago Pipeline on the Grace Period for Implementation of the 2007 HTS, Etc.
CBP at the Port of Chicago has issued the following Pipelines:
Amendment to Pipeline 07-03 dated January 11, 2007. This amendment provides additional information on the Grace Period for Implementation of the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of the U.S. (Pipeline 07-03A, dated 01/30/07)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 02/20/07 news, 07022005, for BP reminder on the Feb 3 - 20, 2007 grace period.)
Customs Broker Examination (Pipeline 07-06, dated 01/30/07)
(Chicago Pipelines availablefromBP by emailing documents@brokerpower.com.)