On March 13 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 issued its weekly Enforcement Report for March 13 that lists the status of recalls and field corrections for food, drugs, biologics, and devices. The report covers both domestic and foreign firms.
The Food and Drug Administration posted presentations from its Feb. 28-March 1 meeting on the recently issued proposed rules on produce safety and preventative controls for human food (HARPC) (see 13010805 and 13010429). The presentations were given by FDA officials, and include overviews of the two Food Safety Modernization Act proposed rules, their respective regulatory impacts, and educational and technical assistance related to the proposals.
On March 13 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes March 13 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 Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 14:
The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (CS) is planning to lead a trade mission to Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines Sept. 15-21 for exporters in the energy and environmental technologies sectors. The mission will support the “E3 Initiative” announced at the 2012 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (see 12112009), CS said. Mission participants will be able to schedule meetings with Asian Development Bank officials to explore business opportunities. Each mission stop will also include briefings, networking receptions, and one-on-one business meetings with potential customers, partners and local representatives. Applications to participate are due by Aug. 23, with decisions made on a rolling basis after March 12.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the 2010 conviction of Tony Nelson, a former member of the Jacksonville Port Authority’s board, for bribery, mail fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy resulting from his advocacy for the port’s use of a particular dredging contractor’s services. According to the indictment, Nelson was paid as a lobbyist for the contractor in return for his advocacy, but didn’t disclose the payments. A jury convicted Nelson despite the fact that he never voted on board matters concerning the contractor.
The Court of International Trade sustained a challenge to the countervailing duty investigation of kitchen appliance shelving and racks from China (C-570-942), again affirming the constitutionality of the 2012 law allowing application of CV duties to non-market economies. Beyond the constitutional questions raised by plaintiffs, the court also ruled in favor of the International Trade Administration’s affirmative subsidy determinations on government provision of cheap inputs (for less than adequate remuneration, or LTAR) through companies both majority- and minority-owned by the Chinese government, as well as a private trading company.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website March 13, 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.)