Brian Feito

The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective February 24, 2012, which amends Supplement No. 7 to Part 748 of the Export Administration Regulations to revise the existing Authorization Validated End-User listings for GE India Industrial Pvt Ltd.; Applied Materials (China), Inc.; Boeing Tianjin Composites Co. Ltd.; CSMC Technologies Corporation; Lam Research Corporation; and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

The Food and Drug Administration has stated that it is not aware of any brand of infant formula containing organic brown rice syrup (OBRS), although one brand of toddler formula uses OBRS as a sweetener. The label for this product, however, states that it is for use in children older than 12 months, and also warns that a health care professional should be consulted before using it for infants under 12 months of age. FDA's statement was made due to concerns of trace amounts of arsenic in foods. In response to these concerns, FDA has expanded its surveillance activities in rice. FDA began a further study of arsenic in rice and rice products in October 2011 to determine the level and types of arsenic typically found in these products. According to the FDA, the study is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2012.

In remarks at the Global Food Safety Conference in Orlando, FL on February 16, 2012, Food and Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner for Foods Michael R. Taylor stated that the FDA will soon be publishing several proposed rules to implement parts of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The five highest priority rules will relate to third-party certification, foreign supplier verification, preventative controls at human food and animal feed production facilities, and produce safety. Taylor stated that the FDA hopes to publish the third-party certification proposed rule in March.

The International Trade Commission has rescheduled the public hearing in its investigation of trade in remanufactured goods (332-525). The hearing will now begin at 9:00 am on February 28, 2012 at the ITC building.

The Small Business Administration published a final rule, effective March 26, 2012, increasing the small business size receipts-based standards for 22 industries in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sector 48-49, Transportation and Warehousing, while retaining the current standards for the remaining 37 industries in that sector. The final rule is part of SBA’s ongoing comprehensive review of all size standards required by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Executive Order 13563, and an internal review process started by SBA in 2007. SBA did not review the employee-based standards for industries in NAICS Sector 48-49, but will do so at a later date with other employee-based size standards.

The International Trade Commission has made a determination in its five year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on fresh and chilled Atlantic salmon from Norway, concluding that revoking this order would not be likely to lead to a continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonable foreseeable time. As a result of this ITC negative determination, the International Trade Administration will publish a notice revoking these orders.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) traveled to Russia during February 17-21, 2012 to meet with senior government officials and discuss economic, trade, and foreign affairs issues, including Russia’s impending WTO accession, and to pursue new trade opportunities for U.S. businesses, ranchers and farmers. According to his office, Baucus, along with his fellow trade leaders in Congress, has insisted on holding Russia to a high standard through the WTO accession process to guarantee that American ranchers, farmers, workers, and businesses benefit. WTO members formally invited Russia to join the WTO in December 2011.

The International Trade Administration announced that President Obama appointed two new private sector members to the President’s Export Council on February, 17, 2012. The two new members are Dr. Gary W. Loveman of Caesars Palace and Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup Company. See ITA press release here.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued an interim final rule, effective March 1, 2012, regarding its expanded access to the records of persons that manufacture, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, hold, or import food, as authorized by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Comments on the interim final rule are due by May 23, 2012. The FDA intends to finalize the interim rule one year from the close of the comment period.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes to its Phytosanitary Certificate and Issuance Tracking (PCIT) system. PCIT will begin automatically transferring phytosanitary certificates to foreign countries receiving U.S. exports, reducing previous delays associated with paperwork verification. In addition, APHIS is expanding the availability of user-printed phytosanitary certificates, eliminating the need for users to pay for shipped documents.