The Commerce Department will issue an antidumping duty order on xanthan gum from China, but not Austria, after the International Trade Commission found injury to U.S. industry resulting from imports from the former, but not the latter. The ITC’s finding of no injury from imports of Austrian xanthan gum was unanimous. Likewise, all of the commissioners either voted that injury or the threat of injury was occurring to U.S. industry because of dumped Chinese xanthan gum imports. Because the majority of voters found only the threat of injury from dumped Chinese imports, the AD duty order for China will not apply to entries made before the order is issued.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the following voluntary recalls June 20:
On June 20 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 is proposing amendments to its performance standard for laser products. FDA said the changes would harmonize its requirements with the International Electrotechnical Commission’s standards for laser products and medical laser products. It would also “reduce the economic burden on affected manufacturers,” and better protect public health, FDA said. Any final rule implementing the changes would not be effective until at least two years after publication, FDA said. Comments on FDA’s proposal are due by Sept. 23.
Exporters of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the EU will avoid burdensome certification requirements, after the European Commission declared the U.S. a “listed” country June 21 (here). Without the waiver, all U.S. companies shipping APIs to Europe after July 1 would have had to first submit documentation from the Food and Drug Administration that the product was manufactured in accordance with Europe’s good manufacturing practices, FDA said.
On June 20, the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes June 20 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 Food Safety and Inspection Service revised export requirements and plant lists for the following countries for June 14-20:
The Panama City Port Authority submitted an application to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to reorganize FTZ 65 under the Alternative Site Framework, according to an FTZB Federal Register notice set for publication June 24. The reorganization would expand the Florida-based FTZ’s service area to cover all of Bay and Washington counties. ASF streamlines processes for designation of new FTZ subzones and usage driven sites within the larger service area. Comments on the application are due by Aug. 23.
As it had in a similar case on an earlier review, the Court of International Trade ordered another redo of the final results of the 2007-08 antidumping duty administrative review on floor-standing metal-top ironing tables from China (A-570-888). Commerce had originally assigned Foshan Shunde the China-wide rate for noncooperation, but the court had found that noncooperation didn’t apply to Commerce’s separate rate determination, and remanded in 2011 (see 11102458). On remand, the agency assigned Foshan Shunde a separate rate of 157.68 percent based on adverse facts available. CIT took no issue with the agency’s reliance on AFA, but said Commerce didn’t prove the chosen rate was relevant to Foshan Shunde’s business conditions. Corroboration is required when an AD rate is based on another company during an earlier period of review, the court said.