On July 3 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 amended its requirements for D&C Red No. 6 and D&C Red No. 7 by replacing the current specification for “Ether-soluble matter” with a maximum limit of 0.015 percent for the recently identified impurity 1-[(4-methylphenyl)azo]-2-naphthalenol, in response to a petition filed by Sun Chemical Corp, it said in a final rule. The rule is effective August 7, 2012, except for any provisions that may be stayed by the filing of proper objections. Such objections and requests for hearings may be submitted by August 6, 2012.
A premarket approval application (PMA) or a notice of completion of a product development protocol (PDP) will be required for cardiovascular permanent pacemaker electrodes, said the Food and Drug Administration in a final rule.
On July 3-4 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issued emails July 3 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 State Department issued the official notice detailing its statutory debarment of Pratt & Whitney Canada in connection with Pratt & Whitney Canada’s conviction for its assistance to China in developing a military attack helicopter. The company will be prohibited for a period of at least 3 years from participating directly or indirectly in the export of defense articles, including technical data, or in the furnishing of defense services for which a license or other approval is required, State said.
Jovana Samaniego Deas, a former special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison following a multi-agency investigation that revealed she illegally accessed, stole and transferred sensitive U.S. government documents to unauthorized individuals and obstructed investigations, ICE said. In her plea hearing, Deas had admitted to abusing her position as a special agent to illegally obtain and disseminate government documents classified as "For Official Use Only." According to ICE, some of the sensitive information Deas accessed was later discovered by Brazilian law enforcement on the laptop computer of her former brother-in-law, who has ties to drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and Brazil.
President Obama issued Proclamation 8840 which, among other things, implements changes to the Generalized System of Preferences and the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement. Details of changes follow:
Mexico's Diario Oficial of July 3, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) Board postponed the proposed effective date of its toll increase to October of 2012 and 2013, it said in a press release. The new tolls, proposed in April, were originally slated to take effect in July with a second step of increases in 2013, the board said, but the proposed implementation date was postponed in response to industry requests.