On May 23, 2012, the Foreign Agricultural Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service said the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL) held its 40th Session on May 15-18, 2012, in Ottawa, Canada, with about 165 representatives from 61 countries. Highlights include:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced a public meeting June 5 to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 35th Session of the of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which will be in Rome, Italy, July 2-7, 2012. FSIS is also requesting written comments for the meeting, which may be offered at the meeting or submitted to FSIS in advance.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a directive, effective May 29, 2012, that provides instructions to import inspection personnel (IIP) on how they are to verify that the requirements and associated procedures for the pre-stamping of imported meat and poultry products by official import inspection establishments are met. FSIS said this directive cancels FSIS Directive 9500.4 “Pre-stamping of Imported Product” dated 06/24/2009. The directive said, among other things, that the pre-stamping procedure needs to identify how the controlled stamping of product will be accomplished, and includes directions on updating the establishment profile in the Public Health Information System (PHIS), verification instructions, and consequences for noncompliance by official import inspection establishments.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a directive giving FSIS inspection program personnel (IPP) instructions for verifying an establishment’s intended use of High Pressure Processing (HPP), an antimicrobial treatment for use on meat, poultry and processed egg products without prior-approval from FSIS.
The Census Bureau reminded exporters to be mindful of electronically-transmitted information, particularly sending the Employer Identification Number (EIN) via email to Census in requests for Automated Export System (AES) information. Census said the Internal Transaction Number (ITN) is directly linked to the EIN, and can be used by Census to safely and securely identify a company’s information.
The Court of International Trade granted the U.S. government’s renewed motion for default judgment against Country Flavor Corp. of $617,562.00 as a civil penalty for negligence, as well as $28,984.75 for lost revenue, for unpaid antidumping duties on 13 entries negligently misidentified by Country Flavor, that were later found to be subject to the antidumping duty order on frozen fish fillets from Vietnam (A-552-801). CIT’s ruling followed its denial of the government’s motion for default judgment in March 2012 due to discrepancies and omissions in the Government’s submissions. While CIT granted the government’s renewed motion because it submitted additional evidence to support and correct its contentions, it excoriated the government for its errors, and said such errors undermine the credibility of the involved individuals as well as CIT’s general ability to rely on government representations.
Mexico's Diario Oficial of May 23, 2012, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The U.S and China have adopted procedures for disputes regarding implementation of the World Trade Organization’s ruling against double counting in United States -- Definitive Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on Certain Products from China (DS379). The procedures provide for 90-day periods for panel rulings and appellate body rulings, optional consultations, the suspension of concessions by China (which is not limited by the normal 30-day expiration date), and an arbitration period of 60 days.
The International Trade Administration published notices in the May 23, 2012, Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):