The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes May 3 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 Inspection Service is proposing to allow imports of fresh jackfruit, pineapple and starfruit from Malaysia into the continental U.S. The fruits would have to be irradiated for insect pests, inspected, and imported in commercial consignments. Each fruit would also be subject to its own additional requirements for associated pests, APHIS said. Comments on the proposed rule are due by July 6.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website May 3, 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 addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that certificates of origin for post-importation NAFTA claims are due within a year of the date of importation, but remanded for CBP to explain why it waives the one-year time limit for post-entry claims filed under its reconciliation program, but not for paper claims. As had the Court of International Trade in November 2011, the appeals court said 19 CFR 10.112, which allows for late submissions of supporting documentation for duty-free claims, doesn't apply to NAFTA post-importation refund claims.
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of May 1-7. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).2 Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
The International Trade Commission will hold a public hearing June 13 in connection with its investigation on the economic impact of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. The trade preference program requires the ITC to submit a report every two years on CBERA’s impact on U.S. industry, consumers, and the economies of CBERA beneficiaries. The ITC’s report is due Sept. 30.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the May 3 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission ended, with a finding of no violation, its Section 337 patent investigation on devices for improving uniformity used in a backlight module (337-TA-805). Industrial Technology Research Institute of Taiwan requested the proceeding in 2011, alleging violations by imports of LG LCD displays that purportedly infringe its patents (see 11091201).
The Commerce Department published notices in the May 3 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):
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the following voluntary recalls May 2 (country of manufacture in parentheses):