The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The 11 U.S. agency offices and bureaus responsible for monitoring and enforcing trade agreements don’t have information allowing for a definitive count of staff resources and related funding dedicated for their trade obligations, according to a Government Accountability Office report (here). None of the agencies track staff time at this level of detail because trade actions are performed as part of a broader portfolio of activities, the GAO said. Yet, responding to GAO’s request for information, these agencies conservatively estimated that they devoted more than 700 full-time equivalents at a cost of more than $100 million to monitor and enforce trade agreements in fiscal year 2016, the report says. Further, U.S. agencies in FY 2016 oversaw 80 trade capacity-building projects intended to help U.S. trade partners meet free trade agreement obligations, the GAO said. “These projects, many of which spanned multiple years, amounted to about $256 million in obligated and planned funding,” the report said. “About 80 percent of project funding was related to helping partner countries comply with labor or environmental commitments.”

Rather than further restrict trade with China, the U.S. should negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the country on as many issues as possible, Cato Institute trade policy analyst Simon Lester wrote in a blog post (here). Even so, there probably won’t be any “big announcement” about such a deal during President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida April 6-7, Lester said. “As the U.S. government develops its trade policy over the coming months, it may begin to realize the limitations of the alternative approaches to addressing concerns about China,” Lester wrote. “Trump administration officials have emphasized that the trade deals it negotiates will be bilateral, rather than multilateral. Why not try to negotiate a bilateral agreement with China, one of our biggest trading partners, and the one that is the source of so many trade concerns?”

The Fish and Wildlife Service is reclassifying the West Indian manatee, Trichechus manatus, from an endangered species to a threatened species, in a final rule (here). The reclassification takes effect May 5.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the scarlet-chested parrot (Neophema splendida) and the turquoise parrot (Neophema pulchella) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife, it said (here). The agency’s final rule takes effect May 5. However, both species are still listed in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Appendix II, so export permits still will be required.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration finalized changes to its hazardous materials (hazmat) regulations intended to harmonize the regulations with international agreements, it said (here). The final rule implements recent changes to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air, and the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods -- Model Regulations, PHMSA said. Also included are changes to align U.S. and Canadian regulations agreed to by the U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council. The changes affect proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations and vessel stowage requirements, PHMSA said. Compliance with most provisions of the amended regulations is required beginning Jan. 1, 2018, though compliance with one provision is delayed until Jan. 2, 2019. PHMSA withdrew the final rule from publication in January (see 1701190073).

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is concerned that the miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) process is being “abused” through the filing of hundreds of petitions on finished goods, especially apparel, outgoing Chairman Robert Chapman said March 23 at the group's annual meeting (here). “On principle, NCTO opposes MTBs on finished goods because they often compete with like products made with U.S. inputs,” Chapman said. “Duty reductions on finished textile items from any source can also undermine U.S. free trade agreements that grant duty relief through a yarn forward rule of origin.” But Chapman added that NCTO strongly supports duty relief on domestically unavailable manufacturing inputs that don’t compete with other U.S.-made products. The International Trade Commission is in the process of reviewing the petitions and comments (see 1703230052).

The Drug Enforcement Administration said it intends to temporarily add the synthetic opioid 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (here). DEA can issue a final order temporarily adding the substance after a period of 30 days passes. If issued, the final order will take effect immediately and will stay in effect for a maximum of three years, pending completion of a permanent scheduling order.

The Drug Enforcement Administration placed oral solutions containing the cannabinoid dronabinol into Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act, in an interim final rule (here). Effective March 23, oral solutions containing dronabinol are subject to new registration, labeling, recordkeeping, and import and export requirements. DEA is accepting comments on the rule until April 24.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should reconsider its conflict minerals reporting rule, which has imposed huge expenses on the apparel and footwear industry with few ground-level impacts, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) said in March 16 comments to the SEC (here). The AAFA recommended that the agency “reconsider” the 2012 rule and 2014 guidance (see 14040907), which set reporting requirements. The rule demonstrates "that spending a lot of resources and time to implement a poorly designed regulation, instead of focusing on voluntary initiatives that work, has created questionable results,” the group said. “This is particularly true for the apparel and footwear industry, where the physical nexus to the issue of conflict minerals is tenuous at best.”