The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review of frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand (A-549-822). The ITA found preliminary AD rates of zero and 0.51 percent for mandatory respondents Marine Gold and Thai Union, respectively, and assigned an AD rate of 0.51 percent to 148 companies that were not individually reviewed. Marine Gold's preliminary zero AD rate would be its third consecutive zero or de minimis AD rate if confirmed in the final results, so the ITA said it intends to revoke in part the AD duty order for Marine Gold if it continues its finding. The ITA also preliminarily rescinded the review for Tanaya. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rate for this company.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is proposing to amend its supplemental definition of “strong sanitizer” under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA). The FHSA requires cautionary labeling of some household products to alert consumers to hazards, including on products that are strong sanitizers. The FHSA contains the definition of strong sanitizer, but CPSC’s proposed rule would amend regulations containing supplemental definitions of terms included in the statutory definition. Comments on the proposed rule are due by about May 27.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a final rule establishing requirements for third party testing laboratories (“conformity assessment bodies”) that test children’s products. Approved laboratories are allowed to test children’s products in support of Children’s Product Certificates (CPC) required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The final rule lays out general requirements for laboratories, establishes procedures for acceptance of lab accreditations, and sets consequences for their noncompliance. The final rule also amends CPSC’s regulation on inspections, as well as audit requirements for the laboratories. The final rule is effective June 10, and will apply to products manufactured on or after that date.
On March 8 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
On March 8 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes March 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 Agricultural Marketing Service proposed revised Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) requirements for muscle cut covered commodities, which would align labeling requirements for muscle cut meats wholly produced in the U.S. with current requirements for foreign beef. The proposed rule comes after the World Trade Organization held in July 2012 that current COOL requirements discriminate against cattle and hogs imported from Canada and Mexico. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 11.
A Maryland man was indicted March 7 for exports in violation of the Iran Trade Embargo, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A federal grand jury indicted Ali Saboonchi of Parkville, Md., a U.S. citizen, and Arash Rashti Mohammad, a citizen and resident of Iran, for conspiring to export, and exporting, to Iran. Saboonchi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and on each of four counts for illegal export to an embargoed country. Rashti is believed to be living in Iran, ICE said.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website March 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 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 Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of March 5-12. 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.