The International Trade Administration announced its preliminary affirmative countervailing duty determination on hardwood and decorative plywood from China (C-570-986), finding de minimis CV duty rates for the three individual respondents. According to the ITA fact sheet, companies that didn’t respond to the ITA’s questionnaires were assigned a CV duty rate of 27.16 percent, and the all others rate was set at 22.63 percent. The ITA will direct CBP to suspend liquidation and collect CV duty cash deposits based on these preliminary rates. The final CV duty determination is due in July, at the same time as the companion antidumping duty final determination, although both deadlines may be extended.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the following voluntary recalls Feb. 27 (country of manufacture in parentheses):
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule declaring prions (proteinaceous infectious particles) to be pests under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. EPA will require efficacy data for pesticide products with prion-related claims, it said. The final rule also announced the availability of final test guidelines on generating product performance data for prion pesticide products. The final rule is effective April 29.
On Feb. 27 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
During the week of Feb. 18-24, the Food and Drug Administration modified the following existing Import Alerts (not otherwise listed on the FDA's new and revised import alerts page) on the detention without physical examination and/or surveillance of:
The Food and Drug Administration issued its weekly Enforcement Report for Feb. 27 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 issued its international food safety capacity-building plan, as required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. FSMA requires FDA to develop a plan to expand technical, scientific, and regulatory food safety capacity of foreign governments and food industries in countries that export food to the U.S.
On Feb. 27 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 27 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’s National Organic Program said three guidance and instruction documents are now available for use by certififying agents and certified operations. The documents include “The Use of Kelp in Organic Livestock Feed”; “Responding to Results from Pesticide Residue Testing”; "Seeds, Annual Seedlings, and Planting Stock in Organic Crop Production”; and “Evaluating Allowed Ingredients and Sources of Vitamins and Minerals for Organic Livestock Feed.” The guidance documents are here, and are effective March 4.