The International Trade Administration published notices in the July 16 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):
On July 13 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 a final rule amending the food additive regulations to no longer provide for the use of polycarbonate (PC) resins in infant feeding bottles (baby bottles) and spill-proof cups, including their closures and lids, designed to help train babies and toddlers to drink from cups (sippy cups), effective Aug. 16. According to the underlying petition, baby bottles and sippy cups manufactured from PC resins are no longer being introduced into the U.S. market, and manufacturers of baby bottles and sippy cups have abandoned the use of PC resins in making these products. Objections and requests for hearings are due by Aug. 16.
On July 13 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Codex Committee for Asia requested comments from governments and interested international organizations on the proposed draft Regional Standard for Non-Fermented Soybean Products, said the Food Safety and Inspection Service. China led an electronic working group of regional committee members that produced a draft regional standard now available for comment at Step 3. The text of this draft is contained in Annex 1 of a circular letter available here. Parties interested in contributing to a U.S. response should send their comments to USCodex@fsis.usda.gov by Sept. 7. International organizations may send their comments directly to the Codex Secretariat (codex@fao.org), with a copy to Dr. Takako Yano, Secretary for the CCASIA, ccasia@nm.maff.go.jp by Sept. 15.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for July 16:
The International Trade Administration announced it issued an Export Trade Certificate of Review to Panama Poultry Export Quota, Inc. (PAN-PEQ) for the export of chicken leg quarters to Panama. Specifically, the export certificate of review covers chicken leg quarters (or parts of chicken leg quarters, including legs or thighs), fresh, chilled or frozen seasoned or unseasoned, marinated or not marinated, classifiable under Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheadings 0207.13.99, 0207.14.99 and 1602.32.00, subject to some conditions. The ITA said any person aggrieved by this determination may, within 30 days, bring an action in any appropriate district court of the U.S. to set aside the determination on the ground that the determination is erroneous (i.e., by about Aug. 16).
The Court of International Trade dismissed Nan Ya Plastics Corporation’s bid for monetary benefits under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA, aka the Byrd Amendment). Nan Ya had originally been a petitioner in the 1999 antidumping investigations of polyester staple fiber from Korea and Taiwan, but withdrew its support mid-investigation. CIT ruled that the International Trade Commission’s exclusion of Nan Ya from the affected domestic producer (ADP) list of firms eligible for CDSOA benefits was in accordance with the law and, as has been the case in past CIT decisions, dismissed Nan Ya’s First Amendment free speech claims and Fifth Amendment equal protection claims as foreclosed by the precedent of the court of appeals’ ruling in SKF v. U.S. CIT also said the retroactivity of CDSOA (domestic companies did not know that non-support of the petition would prevent CDSOA funds distribution at the time of the investigation) does not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment because Congress had a rational legislative purpose. (CIT Slip Op. 12-92, dated 07/12/12, Judges Carman, Stanceu, and Gordon)
The International Trade Commission’s denial of eligibility for benefits under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA, aka the Byrd Amendment) for U.S. crawfish producer PS Chez Sidney was reversed by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The ITC had originally ruled Chez Sidney ineligible in 2002, only to reverse its decision pursuant to a 2007 Court of International Trade remand after CIT said the petition support requirement of CDSOA violated the First Amendment. Then, in 2010, ITC once again found Chez Sidney ineligible for benefits after CAFC reversed CIT’s 2007 remand because of CAFC’s SKF v. USA ruling, which had found that the petition support requirement was constitutional. In this ruling, CAFC also remanded CBP’s decision, made during the 2007-2010 period during which Chez Sidney was found eligible, to only distribute benefits to Chez Sidney to the extent that the already distributed benefits were recoverable from other domestic producers.
Two men accused of creating a global network of shell companies to deceive U.S. companies into supplying nuclear-related materials to Iran were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia, reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to a superseding indictment made public Friday, Iranian national Parviz Khaki and Chinese national Zongcheng Yi allegedly attempted to obtain and illegally export U.S.-origin materials to Iran that can be used to construct, operate and maintain gas centrifuges to enrich uranium, ICE said. This includes materials such as maraging steel, aluminum alloys, mass spectrometers, vacuum pumps and other items. Khaki is also accused of conspiring to procure radioactive source materials from the U. S. for customers in Iran, said ICE.