The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new tolerance levels that would allow the import of more undelinted cottonseed into the U.S. for use as feed for dairy cattle, it said in a Federal Register notice. The EPA said importing more cottonseed is necessary because cottonseed is a critical part of the dairy cattle diet and the 2011 U.S. cotton crop was significantly below average.

The Food and Drug Administration issued its weekly Enforcement Report for April 4, 2012 that lists the status of recalls and field corrections for food, drugs, biologics, and devices. The report covers both domestic and foreign firms.

On April 5, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration issued a monthly update to the trade on its sampling of imported orange juice products that may be contaminated with the fungicide carbendazim, which began on January 4, 2012. This update, as well as prior updates, is in the form of an addendum to a January 9, 2012 letter to the Juice Products Association. FDA is no longer sampling imported juice from domestic manufacturers.

The Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) is to meet May 22-23, 2012, and a Transit-Oriented Development Workshop is set for May 24, 2012, the EPA said in a Federal Register notice. Environmental Finance topics to be discussed include clean air technology, tribal environmental programs, transit-oriented development, energy efficiency and green infrastructure.

The Environmental Protection Agency scheduled a public meeting on May 16, 2012, to give the public an opportunity to comment on a proposed test rule for import or manufacture of 23 high production volume (HPV) chemical substances and a significant new use rule (SNUR) for another 22 HPV chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The test rule would require manufacturers and processors to develop screening-level health, environmental, and fate data based on the potential for substantial exposures of workers and consumers to the 23 HPV chemical substances.

During the week of April 2 through April 8, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration modified the following existing Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

Between March 21 and March 29, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

Between April 2 and April 6, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:

Officials in the Food and Drug Administration’s China office say the Chinese are on their way to developing an infrastructure that better ensures product safety. The FDA said it has trained more than 1,600 Chinese manufacturers and regulators on U.S. safety standards over the past two years. Michael Kravchuk, who was deputy director in Beijing until he retired in September, says the FDA has built solid relationships with Chinese regulators and exporters since officially opening an office in Beijing in November 2008. The FDA held a hands-on workshop in the cities of Hangzhou and Zhoushan in September. The event included a half-day of classroom instruction and three full days of demonstrations at two plants that process low-acid canned foods such as mushrooms, sardines, artichoke hearts, and tuna.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) section 5(a) Significant New Use Rule (SNUR), for polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) by designating processing of six PBDEs as a significant new use. It would also designate manufacturing, importing, and processing of a seventh PBDE, decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) for any use which is not ongoing after December 31, 2013, as a significant new use, it said in a Federal Register notice.