On April 8 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
On April 8 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes April 8 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 Animal and Plant Health is updating its regulations on permits for importation and interstate movement of plant and plant products, in a final rule that takes effect May 12. The final rule places permit regulations into a single section of the import quarantine regulations that would apply permit application, approval, and revocation procedures to a wide variety of plants and plant products regulated under 7 CFR 319. The new permit requirements would also apply to importation of honeybees and honeybee semen, and noxious weeds.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for April 9:
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website April 8, 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.
LAS VEGAS -- The Federal Maritime Commission is looking at softening changes to its regulations on Ocean Transport Intermediaries (OTIs), said FMC Chairman Mario Cordero in remarks at the National Customs Broker & Freight Forwarder Association annual conference. A May 2013 request for comments had prompted industry to decry the FMC's regulatory changes as too burdensome. Cordero said FMC staff is currently considering ways to make any new regulations more “business-friendly,” although he wouldn't say what specific changes were in the pipeline.
The Federal Trade Commission is amending its EnergyGuide labeling regulations for televisions to adopt new test procedures set by the Energy Department in October (see 13100401), in a final rule that takes effect May 9. The FTC had originally required television manufacturers to use the ENERGY STAR test procedure to measure energy use (see 11010626), but with DOE's new test procedure set to take effect in April the FTC is now adopting the updated standards. The FTC's final rule also sets a new reporting requirement, with the first reports due in July. For 2014 reports, data submissions need only include models currently in production, and manufacturers should not include test data for models already discontinued, said the FTC. The final rule also exempts from labeling requirements televisions with screen sizes of 15 inches or less.
The International Trade Commission published notices in the April 8 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):
The Commerce Department published notices in the April 8 Federal Register on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):