During the week of May 26 - June 1, the Food and Drug Administration modified the following existing Import Alerts (not otherwise listed on the FDA's new and revised import alerts page) on the detention without physical examination and/or surveillance of:
The Food and Drug Administration is formally reclassifying powered surgical instrument for improvement in the appearance of cellulite as Class II devices that do not require premarket approval, in an order that codifies a reclassification that took effect July 12, 2013. The devices had been classified in Class III, and required the filing of a premarket approval application before distribution. FDA is reclassifying them in response to a request from Cabochon Aesthetics related to the Cabochon System. Although they will no longer need FDA approval, the devices will still be subject to certain extra "special controls" related to testing and labeling. They will not be exempt from premarket notification requirements.
On June 2 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes June 2 to 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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 2 overturned a lower court ruling that had resulted in a higher antidumping duty rate for Chinese wooden bedroom furniture exporter Yihua Timber. The Commerce Department originally assigned Yihua a 29.89% AD duty rate in an administrative review covering entries in 2007. In response to a series of subsequent court remands, Commerce first dropped Yihua’s rate to 21.53% in 2011 before raising it “under protest” to 40.74% in 2012. CAFC now says the Court of International Trade decision that affirmed the higher rate erred in “substituting its own judgment” for Commerce’s, and reversed and remanded.
The Commerce Department can impose penalty rates on foreign exporters for noncooperation by their upstream suppliers, said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a May 29 decision. Although the court rejected the particular rate assigned to Mueller Comercial in an administrative review on circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from Mexico covering entries in 2008-09, it said that penalty rates can be applied to cooperative exporters in cases where they induce cooperation by other entities.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website June 2, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
The Energy Department is amending an earlier proposed rule on test procedures related to new labeling requirements for LED lamps. DOE originally issued its proposed rule in 2012 to add tests that would support new Federal Trade Commission labeling requirements that had been set two years prior. In a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, DOE is now amending its proposal to revise methods for calculating the lifetime of LED lamps, and adding calculations for lamp efficacy and color rendering index. Comments on the proposal are due Aug. 4.
The Energy Department is tightening energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. The stricter standards apply to refrigeration systems, panels, and doors. Compliance with the new standards is required by June 5, 2017.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the June 2 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will be in another ITT article):