On Feb. 11 the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes Feb. 11 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 is proposing changes to importer membership requirements for the Watermelon Research and Promotion Plan in an attempt to add more importer representation. The proposed rule would remove the requirement that an importer import more than 50 percent of the total volume handled and imported in order to qualify as an importer member. Comments are due by March 15.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service PPQ’s Plant Inspection Station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is closing effective immediately. San Juan importers must hire a PPQ-approved fumigation company to conduct required treatments in the future, APHIS said. The San Juan Plant Inspection Station can provide importers with a list of approved fumigation companies.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Feb. 12:
The Bureau of Industry and Security added Connor Hayden Kraegel of Poolesville, Md., to the Denied Persons List. Kraegel was sentenced to 15 months in prison in April 2011 for stealing firearms (here). Press reports indicate the man allegedly sold some stolen military equipment overseas without the required authorizations.
The Court of International Trade accepted the remand redetermination of the 2008-09 antidumping duty administrative review of polyethylene retail carrier bags from Thailand (A-549-821), finding the International Trade Administration’s explanation of zeroing to be adequate, and a shift in how it applied the “transactions disregarded” rule for calculation of constructed value to be reasonable. Thai Bags Plastic Industries’ AD rate rose to 21.29 percent (from 2015 percent) as a result. CIT had remanded the final results in June.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Feb. 11, 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.)
Exports reached an all-time high of $2.2 trillion in 2012, and export growth outpaced import growth for the first time since 2007, announced Deputy Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. The trade deficit fell by $19.5 billion in 2012 to about $540 billion in 2012 on the rise in exports, down from the pre-recession high of $753 billion in 2006, the Commerce Department said. “We’re continuing to make historic progress toward the president’s goal of doubling exports,” Blank said following release of the figures in the Census Bureau’s December report on trade in goods and services. “As part of this effort, the National Export Initiative has helped U.S. companies by leveling the playing field and providing access to new markets.”
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Feb. 11 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):