The International Trade Commission will hold a public meeting at 1 p.m. on Oct. 12 to review the petitioning and comment process for miscellaneous tariff bills (MTBs), the ITC said (here). Attendees should register (here). Attendees will see a preview and walk-through of the MTB Petition System portal, and will be able to ask ITC staff procedural and technical questions. The ITC said it expects to hold a second review session in November.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule (here) listing the Suwannee moccasinshell (Medionidus walkeri), a freshwater mussel species from the Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Nov. 7.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added furfuryl alcohol (CAS No. 98-00-0) to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer for purposes of Proposition 65, it said (here). The listing took effect Sept. 30. Proposition 65 requires warning labels on products that contain certain listed chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued its annually updated list of vehicles that are eligible for importation despite not being originally manufactured to conform to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (here). The agency revised its list, published as an appendix to 49 CFR 593, to add vehicles that it determined to be eligible for importation since Oct. 1, 2015, and to remove vehicles that are now more than 25 years old and no longer need to comply. The new list takes immediate effect.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is listing the Miami tiger beetle (Cicindelidia floridana), a beetle species from Miami-Dade County, Florida, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (here). In a separate final rule, FWS is also listing the Kentucky Arrow Darter, a fish from the upper Kentucky River basin in Kentucky, as threatened (here). New import and export restrictions set by both final rules take effect Nov. 4.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is setting 2017 quotas for the manufacture and importation of controlled substances in Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice (here). Substances not listed in the table included in DEA's notice will have a quota of zero. DEA is also setting quotas for the Schedule I chemicals ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and pseudoephedrine.

The Labor Department will not impose additional certification requirements for federal contractors that supply carpets from India, finding insufficient evidence that carpets from India are being produced by forced or indentured child labor, it said (here). “After a thorough review of the information available and comments received, the Departments [of Labor, State and Homeland Security] have determined that there is not sufficient evidence at this time establishing more than isolated incidents of forced or indentured child labor in the production of carpets in India,” DOL said. “With this final determination, the current [List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor] remains in place.”

The International Trade Commission published in the Federal Register Sept. 30 its interim final rule (see 1609270023) that details the processes for submitting applications for duty suspensions under a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (here). The interim final rule implements provisions included in MTB process reform legislation signed earlier this year (see 1605200041). Comments on the new regulations are due Nov. 29.

The Fish and Wildlife Service on Sept. 29 issued a final rule (here) listing 10 animal species and 39 plant species from Hawaii, including the band-rumped storm-petrel, the orangeblack Hawaiian damselfly, the anchialine pool shrimp and seven yellow-faced bees, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. FWS also listed the eastern massasauga rattlesnake, found in the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. and the Canadian province of Ontario, as threatened, in another final rule (here). New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rules take effect Oct. 31.

The Labor Department on Sept. 30 updated its List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (here). The list now includes 139 goods from 75 countries, with the 2016 edition adding three new goods (pepper from Vietnam, potatoes from Lebanon, and silk cocoons from Uzbekistan) and two new countries (Costa Rica for cattle and coffee, and Sudan for gold), DOL said (here). The list does not directly affect CBP decisions to issue withhold release orders (WROs) banning imports of goods made from forced, child or prison labor, though CBP has said it may use the list for research and pointed to DOL reports as resources for importers to avoid being affected by the company-specific CBP forced labor import bans (see 1604220017). DOL also issued on Sept. 30 its 2015 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor report (here), and is seeking comments on that report, as well as the forced labor goods list and a 2014 list of products produced by child labor, it said (here).