The Fish and Wildlife Service is no longer issuing designated port exception permits to authorize entries at ports with no FWS staff present, it said in a public bulletin issued Oct. 18 (here). As FWS begins its ACE filing pilot, “it is critical that our wildlife inspectors be staffed at ports of clearance to process shipments and function effectively in this new single window environment,” the agency said. An FWS official announced the change in September, noting that FWS may still issue the permits for ports with FWS personnel that are not designated for the commodity in question (see 1609130042).
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Drug Enforcement Administration is finalizing 2016 quotas for the manufacture and import of controlled substances in Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act (here). 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 American Apparel and Footwear Association criticized the Alibaba Group's justification for why it hosts a great deal of counterfeit sales listings, in an Oct. 21 rebuttal (here) to earlier Alibaba comments filed in response to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s request for input on its 2016 Notorious Markets Report. Though AAFA commended Alibaba for filing comments reflecting public commitments and statements company executives made during the past year to crack down on counterfeiters’ use of its platforms, the trade group said Alibaba’s comments (here) amounted to a “so big it fails” defense, in justification of the high number of merchants and listings on its sites. “We patently reject that defense, particularly since Alibaba continues to expand its reach and has announced plans to grow even more,” wrote AAFA Executive Vice President Stephen Lamar in the rebuttal. “Citing its size as an obstacle to addressing a counterfeit problem it has enabled and unleashed is deeply troubling.”
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) waived the “Buy America” requirement for all minivans and vans not subject to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility regulations that are procured by local transit agencies, state governments and the federal government through any FTA funds, the agency announced (here). FTA didn’t find any minivan manufacturers that met both final assembly and domestic content requirements for non-ADA-accessible minivans, the agency said. FTA will still require final assembly in the U.S. The waiver applies to all contracts for the procurement of non-ADA-accessible minivans and vans entered into before Oct. 1, 2019, or until a fully compliant domestic source becomes available, FTA said.
The Energy Department is adopting energy efficiency test procedures for certain categories of general service lamps, it said in a final rule (here). The new test procedures do not apply to integrated light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or general service incandescent lamps, which have been the subject of other agency rulemakings (see 1606300013, 1608290038 and 12012708), DOE said. The new test procedures will be mandatory for product testing starting in April 2017.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is relisting the population of Columbian white-tailed deer living in Clatsop, Multnomah and Columbia counties in Oregon, and Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Skamania and Clark counties in Washington, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, in a final rule issued Oct. 17 (here). The population was previously listed as endangered. The relisting takes effect Nov. 16.
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain signed a memorandum of understanding with Cuban agricultural officials last week to conduct trade of agricultural products, the department said (here). Last week, Strain, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, and Louisiana economic development and port officials conducted a trade mission with Cuba. “We want to ensure we are on the same playing field as everyone else once trade restrictions are relaxed,” Strain said in a statement. Strain urged Congress to pass Arkansas Republican Rep. Rick Crawford’s bill that would repeal provisions in the Trade Sanctions and Trade Enforcement Act of 2000 that ban U.S. financing of agricultural exports to Cuba, and that only exempt pre-transport cash payments or payments from third-party financial institutions (see 1609150043). Congress could consider Crawford’s bill after the presidential election, the department said. The MOU positions Louisiana to benefit immediately after establishment of normal bilateral trade relations, Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., said in a statement (here).
The International Trade Commission’s Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Petition System portal (here) is now available for filing of MTB petitions, it said (here). Petitions will be accepted until 5:15 p.m. on Dec. 12. “No late filings will be accepted,” the ITC said. “Petitioners are strongly advised” before attempting to file a petition to review the ITC’s rules on MTB petitions (here), its Handbook on MTB Filing Procedures (here), and its Before You File guide (here). The ITC recently walked filers of petitions through the new filing procedures at a session held at commission headquarters (see 1610130039).
The Fish and Wildlife Service updated its list of foreign animal and plant species that are candidates for listing as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (here). The list comprises 20 species, including 14 species of birds, five species of butterflies, and one species of mollusk. FWS says the species warrant listing as endangered or threatened, but their listing “remains precluded by higher-priority proposals to determine whether other species are an endangered species or a threatened species.”