The January 2023 update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule included several fixes not listed in the change record to resolve technical issues with the final update of 2022 (see 2301030052), according to an International Trade Commission staffer. Revision 12, released in November, had various technical problems due to the deployment of added security features in the data management system, which were not fully compatible with the underlying software. These comparability issues led to omissions, including the elimination of a table of additional duty rates on sugar-containing articles under 9904.17 and an expiration date column in subchapter II of Chapter 99. The HTS system has experienced issues when the custom-built system receives significant updates, the staff member said, but enhancements currently are in the works.
The Drug Enforcement Administration plans to temporarily adding five synthetic benzodiazepines -- etizolam, flualprazolam, clonazolam, flubromazolam and diclazepam -- to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice of intent in the Dec. 23 Federal Register. Once the temporary scheduling order is published, it will be in effect for up to three years, the DEA said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is removing fenfluramine from schedule IV of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice of the final rule in the Dec. 23 Federal Register. The DEA said the drug has no abuse potential. The removal eliminates “the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to controlled substances, including those specific to schedule IV controlled substances, on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, dispense, engage in research, import, export, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess) or propose to handle fenfluramine,” the DEA said. The delisting is effective Dec. 23.
Hong Kong-based Sterling Container Line violated U.S. shipping regulations when it refused to pay Florida-based SeaFair USA for its “document turnover” services for shipments carried under Sterling’s house bills of lading, SeaFair said in a Dec. 15 complaint to the Federal Maritime Commission. SeaFair said Sterling owes it more than $400,000 and asked the FMC to order Sterling to pay reparations and “cease and desist” from their “unlawful conduct.”
The Institute for Policy Studies, a nonprofit critic of globalization, war, and human rights abuses around the globe, hosted an event that questioned the ability of trade to help advance the green transition needed to prevent uncontrolled global warming.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in two final rules listed a plant and a tree as endangered and threatened, respectively. A final rule published Dec. 15 lists the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), a high-elevation tree species found across western North America, as threatened, with a 4(d) rule that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit. Another released Dec. 15 lists the Tiehm’s buckwheat (Eriogonum tiehmii), a plant species native to Nevada, as endangered. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rules take effect Jan. 17.
The Fish and Wildlife Service on Dec. 12 released a final rule listing the Dolphin and Union caribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus × peary), a distinct population segment of the barren-ground caribou native to Canada, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Jan. 12.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is listing methiopropamine, a central nervous stimulant that is structurally related to the schedule II stimulants methamphetamine and amphetamine, under schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice released Dec. 8. “This action imposes the regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal sanctions applicable to schedule I controlled substances on persons who handle (manufacture, distribute, reverse distribute, import, export, engage in research, conduct instructional activities or chemical analysis with, or possess) or propose to handle methiopropamine," DEA said. The listing takes effect Jan. 9.
The Federal Maritime Commission this week announced new interim procedures for shippers, forwarders and others filing charge complaints for alleged violations of U.S. shipping regulations. The new procedures will help the FMC “take prompt action” to adjudicate complaints and guide the commission as it works to create a permanent filing process, which will be established through a future rulemaking.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the Puerto Rican harlequin butterfly (Atlantea tulita) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing includes a 4(d) rule for this species that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Jan. 3.