Legislation is urgently needed to extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act’s (AGOA) Third-Country Fabric provision and implement corrections to the Central America -- Dominican Republic -- United States Free Trade Agreement's (CAFTA-DR) textile and apparel provisions, said the U.S. Trade Representative in a fact sheet issued May 8.
Mexico's Diario Oficial of May 10, 2012, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The International Trade Administration published notices in the April May 11, 2012, Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration issued a notice correcting its May 1 initiation of sunset review to specify that the product under review is polyester staple fiber from China (A-570-905) (first review). The ITA said the effective date of initiation is May 1, 2012, but it will consider requests from interested parties for the extension of the deadlines for filing of a notice of intent to participate, filing of a statement of waiver, and filing of a substantive response. The International Trade Commission already initiated its sunset review of polyester staple fiber on May 1.
On May 10, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
Food and Drug Administration denied requests for a hearing on its October 2000 final rule that amended the food additive regulations to provide for the safe use of ionizing radiation for the control of microbial pathogens in seeds for sprouting. FDA said that, after reviewing objections to the final rule and requests for a hearing, it has concluded that the objections do not justify a hearing or otherwise provide a basis for revoking the regulation.
Compliance dates for the FDA’s final rule for over-the-counter sunscreen drug products is now delayed by six months, i.e. until December 17, 2013 (from June 17, 2013), for products with annual sales of less than $25,000 and December 17, 2012 (from June 18, 2012), for all other products subject to the rule, the Food and Drug Administration announced.
On May 10, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails May 10, 2012 announcing changes to some Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for the week of May 4 through May 10, 2012: