Trade industry representatives suggested to Fish and Wildlife Service officials during a recent meeting that it use a trusted trader program to help reduce some ACE data reporting requirements that are set to expand in 2017 (see 1611140019). Trade leaders met with the FWS officials during the East Coast Trade Symposium, according to an email from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. Several trade groups recently wrote a letter to FWS about the added data requirements (see 1611210004). During the meeting, "numerous proposals surfaced -- including a trusted trader concept that allowed companies to be vetted in advance," the NCBFAA said. William Woody, chief of the FWS Office of Law Enforcement "promised to address the issues raised and requested examples from the trade of where data would be required for regulated components of minimal value," the trade group said. Also discussed was the end to the Designated Port Exception Permit program, which allowed for FWS-regulated goods to enter at ports with no FWS staff present. "Woody acknowledged the consternation of ports such as Savannah and promised to work to resolve the budgetary and other issues that prompted the proposal," according to the NCBFAA. The meeting was led by Jon Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs for the National Retail Federation, and Woody, the NCBFAA said.
Seekers of miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) duty reductions for garment ensembles should include the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheadings and descriptions of individual, constituent garments in the “article description” part of their petitions for duty relief so that the International Trade Commission can accurately calculate revenue loss, ITC attorney-adviser Jan Summers said during a Nov. 29 webinar. ITC officials hosted the webinar to clarify information to include in MTB petitions after it received several improper filings since the opening of ITC’s online petition portal on Oct. 14 (see 1611090012). Filers can narrow the scope of apparel filings by defining fabric types more specifically, Summers said. “But you’d want to be careful,” she said. “Don’t add a requirement that would force the product to be classified in another rate line, or that causes interpretive issues.” After the ITC received a question about whether to include fabric sourcing information in petitions, Summers said that data isn’t appropriate for including in article descriptions. Filers also shouldn’t describe an apparel article according to the company that makes it, Summers added.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding the synthetic opioid furanyl fentanyl to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final order (here). The final order takes effect Nov. 29, and will be in effect for up to three years.
The Energy Department is designating certain types of compressors as “covered equipment” under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, in a final rule (here). The designation means DOE may issue energy efficiency standards and test procedures for compressors. The new regulation defines covered compressors as “a machine or apparatus that converts different types of energy into the potential energy of gas pressure for displacement and compression of gaseous media to any higher pressure values above atmospheric pressure and has a pressure ratio at full-load operating pressure greater than 1.3.” The final rule takes effect Dec. 15.
The Justice Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) published its 2016 Annual List of Explosive Materials, it said (here). The list takes effect Nov. 16. In a change from previous lists, ATF is correcting the name for "xanthomonas hydrophilic colloid explosive mixture” and removing the term “special fireworks” from the list of explosive materials.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding the synthetic opioid U-47700 to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final order (here). The final order takes effect Nov. 14, and will be in effect for up to three years.
The Energy Department on Nov. 10 issued final rules amending energy efficiency test procedures for commercial water heaters, unfired hot water storage tanks and hot water supply boilers (here), and for commercial packaged boilers (here). Compliance with the new test procedures under each final rule will be required for representations related to energy efficiency or energy use starting Nov. 6, 2017.
All International Trade Commission website and web-based applications will be unavailable starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time Nov. 11, including the commission’s Electronic Documents Information System, Harmonized Tariff Schedule search, Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Petition System, and DataWeb, as the ITC upgrades its internet security infrastructure, the commission said (here). Although the outage “is not expected to be long,” it could last as long as 24 hours, and system users should check intermittently on availability and plan activities accordingly, the ITC said.
Several petitions filed for temporary Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) duty suspensions and reductions contain incomplete article descriptions that may not be administrable by CBP, and the International Trade Commission (ITC) released guidance to help filers craft such descriptions, the commission said. The ITC opened MTB petition filings on Oct. 14, in line with the process outlined in the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016 enacted May 20. The guidance (here) says article descriptions should include clear and administrable language, applicable Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) subheading numbers, and any standard identification numbers or names, such as Chemical Abstracts Service number for chemicals. The guidance notes that product descriptions are different from article descriptions, which go into an HTS heading in Chapter 99. Product descriptions are narratives that inform about other details of the product.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is amending federal safety standards to clarify special trailer (ST) tires are allowed on new trailers with a gross vehicle weight below 10,000 pounds, it said in a final rule (here). The final rule also amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 110 to exclude these trailers from a requirement that a tire must be retained on its rim when subjected to a sudden loss of tire pressure and brought to a controlled stop from 60 mph. The final rule takes effect Nov. 9.