A countervailing duty cash deposit requirement will take effect Sept. 2 for imports of sugar from Mexico (C-201-846), as the Commerce Department found illegal subsidization of Mexican producers in its preliminary determination. Rates range from 2.99% to 17.01%.
The Commerce Department issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review and a concurrent new shipper review on wooden bedroom furniture from China (A-570-870). The agency determined that most companies subject to this review didn't demonstrate independence from Chinese government control, and assigned them the high China-wide rate. Commerce only calculated new rates for the Tony House Group and new shipper Dongguan Chengcheng. The new rates will be used to set assessments of AD duties for entries of hangers from China between January 2012 and December 2012.
The Environmental Protection Agency is promulgating significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 37 chemical substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs). As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import, or process any of these 37 chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this rule are to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. The final rule is effective Nov. 3.
On Aug. 28 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The Food and Drug Administration issued its weekly Enforcement Report for Aug. 27 that lists the status of recalls and field corrections for food, drugs, biologics, and devices. The report covers both domestic and foreign firms.
The Food and Drug Administration recently sent warning letters to three pharmaceutical companies that are delinquent on generic drug user fees. FDA says Cataire Chimie of France (here), Korea United Pharm of South Korea (here), and Explora Laboratories of Switzerland (here) have not yet paid 2013 or 2014 fees required by the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2012. As a result, any drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients from the companies may be misbranded, and FDA may place them on import alert if the fees aren’t paid. A full list of companies in arrears on generic drug user fees is (here).
The Food and Drug Administration issued a new FAQ document on its unique device identifier (UDI) system for medical devices. The guidance contains information on effective dates, label contents, and which products are subject to the new requirements. The UDI system will begin taking effect Sept. 24 for Class III devices.
On Aug. 28 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation announced Special Import Quota #3 for upland cotton that will be established on Sept. 4, allowing importation of 14,741,821 kilograms (67,709 bales) of upland cotton. It will apply to upland cotton purchased not later than Dec. 2, and entered into the U.S. by March 2, 2015. The quota is equivalent to one week's consumption of cotton by domestic mills at the seasonally-adjusted average rate for the period March through May, the most recent three months for which data are available.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is proposing to allow the importation of chilled and frozen beef from Northern Argentina. The proposed rule would adopt the requirements currently in place for fresh beef and ovine meat from Uruguay, including inspections, restrictions on the location where the animal is raised and contact with other animals. In the same proposed rule, APHIS is also recognizing the Northern Argentina region as free of rinderpest. Comments are due Oct. 28.