The Office of Foreign Assets Control has updated its list of authorized providers of air, travel, and remittance forwarding services to Cuba. OFAC periodically and routinely updates the names and addresses of the Service Providers for the benefit of the public.
The International Trade Administration's U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service announces that it is adding a third city stop to Jeddah on December 5, 2010 to its energy and infrastructure trade mission to Saudi Arabia, December 5-8, 2010, which will introduce participants to end-users and prospective partners whose needs and capabilities are targeted to the respective U.S. participant’s strengths.
The U.S. Commercial Service of the International Trade Administration announces a multiple industry trade mission to Mexico City with an optional second stop in Monterrey, October 25-28, 2010. The mission is intended to include representatives from best-prospect sectors which include, among others, airport and aviation, automotive, building and construction, education and training, energy, environmental technologies, financial and insurance services, franchising, information technologies and telecommunications, safety and security, transportation and ports, and travel and tourism.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued revised "Guidance on the Release of Limited Amounts of Blocked Funds for Payment of Legal Fees and Costs Incurred in Challenging the Blocking of U.S. Persons in Administrative or Civil Proceedings."
On July 26, 2010, Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Geithner welcomed the strong steps taken by Europe and Canada to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1929. Consistent with the Security Council’s mandate, these measures impose additional sanctions against Iran’s financial, insurance, transportation, trade and energy sectors, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, significantly increasing Iran’s isolation. These steps underscore the steadfast European and Canadian leadership to hold Iran accountable for its failure to meet its international obligations and set a high standard for global implementation of sanctions.
The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a final rule, effective September 27, 2010, which will adjust the ordinary maximum penalty from $50,000 to $55,000 and the aggravated maximum penalty from $100,000 to $110,000 that it will apply when assessing a civil monetary penalty for a violation of the Federal hazardous material transportation laws or a regulation, special permit, or approval issued under those laws.
On July 26, 2010, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Coalition of Service Industries and the National Association of Manufacturers put forth a comprehensive approach to double U.S. exports in five years -- a key goal of President Obama’s. Under this approach, the three organizations outline policy changes needed to improve market access and level the playing field in a competitive global market. These changes include enacting pending trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, pursuing new trade agreements, reducing non-tariff barriers, and improving competitiveness with investments in infrastructure and trade facilitation initiatives.
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Linscott has concluded the second meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Dialogue to promote trade in legally harvested forest products. Countries participating in the July 2010 dialogue in Seattle included Australia, Cambodia, China, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand and Vietnam. Linscott stated that “this second meeting of the Regional Dialogue continued the constructive discussions that we started last year in Jakarta. We exchanged information, described our respective efforts and explored collaborative, regional approaches to address the challenges associated with promoting legal trade and combating illegal trade.” (The first meeting of the broader Regional Dialogue took place in Jakarta, Indonesia in September 2009 and included nine Asia-Pacific countries that share concerns with illegal logging and associated international trade. Based on the success of that meeting, the United States and Indonesia agreed to move forward with a larger group of countries in the region.)
The National Association of Manufacturers came out against H.R. 5820, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act recently introduced by Representatives Henry Waxman (D) and Bobby Rush (D). NAM states that the bill would dramatically expand the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority over every sector of the economy, sets unrealistic standards and timeframes and puts unnecessary burdens on manufacturers with new and inconsistent statutory requirements. Instead, manufacturers support a U.S. chemical regulatory and management system that is risk-based and uses the best science to ensure chemicals are safe for their intended use.
Various U.S. government agencies are seeking comments on the following information collections for which they have requested or intend to request Office of Management and Budget approval or extension of approval (see notices for specific details):