The Federal Maritime Commission will interview applicants for the position of Inspector General on Dec. 10 during a closed meeting, the agency said.
WikiLeaks released more documents that it says come from the ongoing negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, marking the second time the group has released documents related to the negotiations (see 13111323). The "secret TPP documents" show "the state of negotiations as the twelve TPP countries began supposedly final negotiations at a trade ministers’ meeting in Singapore this week," it said. According to WikiLeaks, one of the documents describes work by the U.S. to get other countries to adopt U.S. stances, while the other document lists, "country-by-country, the many areas of disagreement remaining." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately return a request for comment on the authenticity of the released documents.
The State Department Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation said it will impose additional sanctions on Syria as a result of the U.S. determination that the country used chemical weapons on its own citizens. The sanctions include a prohibition on exporting goods and technology, other than food and other agricultural products to Syria, and air travel to and from the U.S. through carriers owned or controlled by Syria. The sanctions are "partially waived with respect to activities in furtherance of United State policies regarding the Syrian conflict," it said. The sanctions will remain in place for at least a year or until further notice, it said.
ABB will use Amber Road's global trade management system to enhance automation and support worldwide supply chain operations, Amber Road said in a press release. The contract includes "a worldwide license for Amber Road's Global Product Master (GPM), which will provide ABB a centralized repository for harmonized schedule (HS) classifications and other import and export data," said Amber Road. ABB, a utility and industrial technology company, plans to roll out the Amber Road solution during the first quarter of 2014, the press release said.
The Federal Maritime Commission voted to request further information on the proposed P3 Network Vessel Sharing Agreement, it said. A coming Federal Register notice will announce a 15-day public comment period and mention the FMC's request for additional information, though the "request itself is not available to the public," said the FMC. The "request for additional information delays the effectiveness of the proposed agreement," it said. "After the parties have submitted the requested information and documents, a new 45-day regulatory review period will begin." The agency recently announced a regulatory summit to discuss the issue (see 13120311). The proposed alliance would align the three largest container carriers: Maersk Line, CMA-CGM, and Mediterranean Shipping Company.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Dec. 2. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
CBP posted an Dec. 4 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
CBP will allow for an additional day for filing entry summaries that were due on Dec. 5 at the Port of Lubbock, Texas (Port Code 5503), CBP said in a CSMS message (here). The "snow day" was granted due to inclement weather, it said. The agency said in a separate CSMS message (here) that it would also grant a snow day for late entries due at the Port of Dallas/Fort Worth (Port Code 5501) on Dec. 6.
The Long Beach City Council voted Nov. 3 former Long Beach Chief Financial Officer Lori Ann Farrell to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, "which oversees the Port of Long Beach and the staff of the City’s Harbor Department," the port said in a press release.
Teresa Rea, previously acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, joined Crowell & Moring as a partner in the Intellectual Property Group and as an international trade consultant, the firm said.