On November 17, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a statement on the International Tobacco Regulators’ Conference hosted by FDA and the World Health Organization Tobacco Free Initiative, which involved 65 representatives of health and regulatory agencies from 22 countries. FDA Commissioner Hamburg states that “This conference underscores President Obama’s commitment to close collaboration with our international counterparts to end the tobacco epidemic.” At the conclusion of the conference, participants committed to an ongoing, productive international discussion and collaboration about tobacco regulation. The leaders also identified opportunities for collaboration in tobacco control efforts and encouraged information-sharing between countries and established experts.

The Food and Drug Administration announced that it is expanding an earlier warning to consumers to include additional frozen oyster products from Korea as they have been linked to norovirus cases in Washington state. Some of the product contained in these additional lots has been identified as breaded frozen shucked oyster products, in addition to the individually quick frozen oyster meat recalled earlier. An additional company in Korea, Daihung Mulsan, Inc. has also been identified as a distributor/exporter of harvested product from the area in question during the period February 23-March 16, 2011. Direct importation of the product was limited to distributors in California, New Jersey and Maryland where state regulatory officials are working to monitor the recall of these products by those distributors.

On November 16, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a notice to remind interested parties that under a 1986 Memorandum of Understanding with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, EPA provides CPSC access to information which has been submitted to EPA under all sections of the Toxic Substances Control Act, some of which may be Confidential Business Information (CBI).

On November 14, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

The Food and Drug Administration issued its weekly Enforcement Report for November 9, 2011 that lists the status of recalls and field corrections for food, drugs, biologics, and devices, which covers both domestic and foreign firms.

The Food and Drug Administration has added new information to its frequently asked questions document on the Food Safety Modernization Act. The additions are on leveraging non-FDA resources for compliance inspections; the timeline for third party accreditation and the authorities and tools third-party auditors will have; the effect of the FSMA on compensation for wrongly detained or recalled products; estimated costs of a new FSMA “inspection system”; and the timeline for the pilots on food traceability.

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. General Services Administration toured e-Green Management of Islip Terrace, New York to highlight the environmental, public health and economic benefits of recycling electronics. The EPA and GSA are partners in a “National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship,” which commits the federal government to promoting the recycling of electronics and advancing a domestic market for electronics recycling that will protect public health, prevent pollution and create jobs. The National Strategy for Electronics Stewardship includes four overarching goals, including reducing harm from U.S. exports of e-waste and improving the safe handling of used electronics in developing countries.

On November 10, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of: