The new year began without an annual update to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, with the latest version of the 2018 HTS still displayed as current on the International Trade Commission’s website. A message on the ITC’s website dated Dec. 21 says “maintenance of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule” will be “disrupted” during the ongoing government shutdown due to a lack of funding. The commission generally posts the first edition of each year’s tariff schedule around Jan. 1. An ITC spokeswoman was unavailable for comment due to the shutdown.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the trispot darter (Etheostoma trisella), a fish species found in the Coosa River system in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Jan. 28.
The Drug Enforcement Administration plans to temporarily add five synthetic cannabinoids -- 5F-EDMB-PINACA, 5F-MDMB-PICA, FUB-AKB48, 5F-CUMYL-PINACA, and FUB-144 -- to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice of intent. 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 finalizing adjusted 2019 quotas for the manufacture and import of controlled substances in schedules I and II of the Controlled Substances Act. Substances not listed in the table included in DEA's final rule will have a quota of zero. DEA is also setting quotas for the Schedule I chemicals ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and pseudoephedrine.
The Energy Department is streamlining reporting requirements for exporters of liquefied natural gas, it said in a policy statement issued Dec. 19. In a change from the current requirements associated with LNG export authorizations, DOE will no longer require exporters to report the destination for which the LNG was “received for end use.” Instead, exporters will only have to report the destination to which the LNG was actually delivered. DOE is making the change due to “the complexity of some LNG export transactions, and the challenges associated with tracking LNG exports all the way to their point of end-use,” it said in a press release. The policy statement is effective Dec. 19, though DOE is also issuing a blanket order removing the end-use reporting requirement from existing export authorizations issued since February 2016. Separately, the agency also issued a proposed interpretive rule that would clarify the types of contracts and purchase agreements that exporters seeking authorizations must submit to DOE.
The International Trade Commission is adopting as final the interim procedures it adopted in 2016 for the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill petition process. The final rule makes no changes from the interim rule, which governed procedures on requesting duty exemptions in the latest MTB passed in October (see 1809140004). But some changes could be made to the process in a separate rulemaking, the notice said. “The [ITC] gained considerable experience in applying the interim rule to petitions submitted and considered with respect to its first report,” the agency said. “Based on that experience, the [ITC] may propose several amendments to this final rule in the near future, with the intent that the amendments be in place before October 15, 2019.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will add “bump stocks” to its definition for machine guns, it said in a final rule posted by the Justice Department in a news release. The change would apply the restrictions on machine guns, including those applicable to importation and exportation, to bump stocks. Under the National Firearms Act, machine guns may only be imported for sale to federal and state government agencies. The rule would amend the definition of machine guns in ATF’s regulations so that it “includes a device that allows semiautomatic firearms to shoot more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger by harnessing the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm to which it is affixed so that the trigger resets and continues firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter (commonly known as bump-stock-type devices).”
The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed the synthetic opioids furanyl fentanyl, 4- fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl, tetrahydrofuranyl fentanyl, and ocfentanil into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final order. These substances had already been temporarily listed in Schedule I since 2016 (see 1611280020). The final order takes effect Nov. 29.
The Federal Trade Commission would like to pursue monetary penalties for violations of "Made in USA" labeling requirements to serve as an example for other potential violators, FTC Chairman Joe Simons said during a Nov. 27 Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing. "We've only gotten injunctive relief in cases like this previously, but now we're exploring whether we can find a good case that would be appropriate for monetary relief to serve as an additional deterrent," Simons said. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., asked about the agency's handling of such cases. Simons previously mentioned a broad review of FTC enforcement actions after the agency settled "Made in USA" cases without any monetary penalties or admissions of guilt (see 1809130036). Soon after the settlement, three senators pressed the FTC to be tougher on enforcing the requirements (see 1810150040).
The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule listing the candy darter (Etheostoma osburni), a freshwater fish species from Virginia and West Virginia, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Dec. 21.