The Office of Management and Budget has approved a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration final rule that would eliminate the requirement for most for-hire motor carriers of property and freight forwarders to maintain cargo insurance in prescribed minimum amounts and file evidence of this insurance with FMCSA. Household goods motor carriers and household goods freight forwarders would continue to be subject to this cargo insurance requirement.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has targeted a financial network of the 48th Front, a part of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, which prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these individuals and entities, and freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announces a meeting via telephone on July 8, 2010, in which the Unified Carrier Registration Plan Board of Directors will continue its work in developing and implementing the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission requests comments on a proposed collection of information regarding burden estimates for the marking and instructional literature requirements in the safety standard for infant walkers. Comments are due by August 20, 2010.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has published notice of the following voluntary recalls:
The U.S. Trade Representative has posted readouts from days 2-4 of the second round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement that took place in San Francisco, CA. On Day 2, topics raised included services and development elements in the TPP, and how USTR will stay in touch with stakeholders beyond the face-to-face meetings in San Francisco. On Day 3, several working groups from the eight TPP partner countries began negotiations on various issue areas (customs cooperation, labor, etc.), while others continued their talks. Day 4 included discussions on how best to address the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises and supply chains across the Asia-Pacific.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau announces an agreement with the Agricultural Marketing Service, which clarifies and delineates the enforcement responsibilities of each agency with respect to the labeling and advertising of alcohol beverages produced under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, and for other related purposes.
The Coast Guard is correcting the preamble to its June 17, 2010 proposed rule, “Bulk Solid Hazardous Materials: Harmonization with the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code,” to provide correct information with regard to the preliminary environmental analysis checklist.
The Office of Management and Budget has approved the Bureau of Industry and Security's final rule to revise the Export Administration Regulations as a result of a systematic review of the Commerce Control List.The revisions in this rule include: (i) Clarifications to Existing Controls; (ii) Eliminating Redundant or Outdated Controls; (iii) Establishing More Focused and Rationalized Controls; and (iv) Adding Additional Controls for Clarity or for Consistency with International Regimes. This rule also makes CCL related changes to other parts of the EAR, including CCL related definitions and license exceptions.