The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is amending its regulations on transportation of lithium cells and batteries in order to conform them to international codes. PHMSA’s final rule brings U.S. requirements in line with standards set by the United Nations, International Civil Aviation Organization, and International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, said the agency. Voluntary compliance with the new regulations may begin immediately upon publication Aug. 6. Compliance will be required by Feb. 6, 2015.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is amending its regulations to again require registered importers of motor vehicles to certify compliance with parts marking requirements of the Theft Prevention Standard, in a final rule that takes effect Aug. 5. NHTSA had inadvertently removed the requirement from its regulations when it issued a previous rule. Registered importers of motor vehicles not originally manufactured will now have to certify to NHTSA that (i) an imported vehicle is not required to comply with the parts marking requirements of the Theft Prevention standard or (ii) the vehicle complies with the requirements as manufactured, or as modified prior to importation. Petitions for reconsideration of the rule are due by Sept. 19.

Importers markedly improved the accuracy and timeliness of Importer Security Filing submissions in the past year, according to the “Import Operations and Compliance Benchmark Study” published in July by American Shipper magazine and BPE Global. About 75% of the 250 importers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) surveyed now say that 95-100% of their ISF declarations are accurate (up from about 65% in 2013), and about the same proportion also say their ISF declarations are timely. CBP began ISF enforcement last year. The survey also says importers are automating more compliance and operations processes, and have increased use of duty avoidance programs by about 5%.

The U.S. should guarantee more access under tariff rate quotas (TRQs) for sub-Saharan African exports of sugar, tobacco, and other agricultural products as a way to improve African Growth and Opportunity Act benefits and boost beneficiary economic growth, said the Center for Global Development in a recent report. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on July 30 instructed lawmakers to mull over further improvements to market access as part of AGOA renewal legislation (see 14073119). “Exports to other countries suggest that, given an opportunity in the US market, some African countries might develop exports of certain dairy products (mainly various forms of powdered milk), sugar and dairy containing confectionary products, and, if [sanitary and phytosanitary] issues can be resolved, peanuts and beef,” said the report. “Providing guaranteed access for these products under U.S. TRQs could increase incentives to invest in developing African competitiveness and building capacity to meet US standards.” Increased agricultural market access will allow sub-Saharan African countries to supplement significant export growth in the energy and apparel sectors, said the report.

The U.S. International Trade Commission released its annual report on the previous year's trade-related activities, it said in a press release (here). "The Year in Trade 2013” includes an overview of antidumping and countervailing duty, safeguard, intellectual property rights, and section 301 cases undertaken by the U.S. government in 2013. In addition, the report covers:

The Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the suspension of imports of elephant trophies taken in Zimbabwe from April 4 until Dec. 31, 2014 first announced in April (see 14050931). The agency recently found that sport hunting in Zimbabwe is not enhancing the survival of the species as required by the Endangered Species Act for African elephants. The decision does not affect imports of any elephant trophies taken before April 4. Additionally, it does not prohibit the taking of elephant trophies, just the importation, so there is a chance that elephant trophies taken between April 4 and Dec. 31 may be imported at a later date, said FWS.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing increases of its fees for importer registration and the importation of motor vehicles. The agency’s proposed rule would raise fees for registered importers, vehicles imported under eligibility petitions and bond/cash deposit processing. It would decrease some fees for review and processing of conformity certificates. The fees were last changed in 2012. If finalized, the new fees would take effect with the beginning of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2014.

The U.S. and European Union (EU) aim to harmonize ways to address pests and other sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) threats as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) pact, according to leaked text of the TTIP SPS chapter. The Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a critic of status quo U.S. trade policy, leaked the text in recent days.

The Energy Department is amending its energy efficiency standards for residential furnaces and direct heating equipment to implement court orders stemming from two challenges of the standards in District of Colombia U.S. District Court. DOE’s final rule replaces the 2011 version of it regulations on non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces with an earlier version it issued in 2007. Compliance with the 2007 regulations will be required by Nov. 19, 2015. The final rule also removes energy efficiency standards for vented gas hearth direct heating equipment

The “Two for One” Earned Import Allowance Program is still failing to stop a steep decline in apparel exports from the Dominican Republic to the U.S., said the International Trade Commission in its annual report on the program released on July 25. Just as the American Apparel and Footwear Association had reported in April, the ITC found that 2013 imports of apparel from the Dominican Republic were down 76% in 2013 from a year earlier. Only 5 out of 12 companies registered for the program actually used it in 2013, down from 7 out of 12 the prior year. The ITC again made the same three recommendations on how to fix the program, which allows duty free access for Dominican Republic apparel exporters that use U.S. fabric: lowering the two-for-one ratio of U.S. to foreign fabric to a one-for-one ratio; including other types of fabrics and apparel items in the program; and changing the requirement that dyeing, finishing, and printing of eligible fabrics take place in the U.S.