The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it received a request for an export license for high-enriched uranium in the form of broken metal to the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited laboratories in Canada, for the production of targets for use in medical isotopes production. Copies of the request are available through the Public Electronic Reading Room link http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. A request for a hearing or petition to intervene may be filed by Sept. 24, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Aug. 23.

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is opening a 25-day comment period on an application for final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million to support the export of a telecommunications satellite and associated equipment to Vietnam, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for Aug. 23. The principal supplier is Lockheed Martin. Comments are due by Sept. 18 to WWW.REGULATIONS.GOV.

The Census Bureau issued AES Broadcast #2012055 as part of a series of monthly educational broadcast messages on the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 122 (Carrier Code is Outdated) and 254 (USPPI Postal Code Must Be Numeric). The broadcast covers the reasons for the these error messages and how to resolve them, as follows:

The Bureau of Industry and Security said its Transportation and Related Equipment Technical Advisory Committee scheduled a partially open meeting Sept. 13 in Washington, D.C. The Committee advises the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration on technical questions that affect the level of export controls applicable to transportation and related equipment or technology. During the open session, the committee will hear status reports by working group chairs. The open session will be accessible via teleconference to 20 participants on a first come, first served basis. Requests to join the conference are due by Sept. 6 to Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov. A limited number of seats will also be available during the public session.

The Bureau of Industry and Security said the Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) scheduled a partially open meeting Sept. 11. The public session will include an export enforcement update, regulations update, working group reports, an Automated Export System (AES) update, and presentations of papers or comments by the public. The open session will be accessible via teleconference to 25 participants on a first come, first served basis. To join via teleconference, submit inquiries by Sept. 4 to Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov. A limited number of seats will also be available for the public session.

The President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA) scheduled a partially open meeting Sept. 6 in Washington, D.C., said the Bureau of Industry and Security. PECSEA advises the Department of Commerce on those portions of the Export Administration Act that deal with U.S. policies of encouraging trade with all countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic or trading relations and of controlling trade for national security and foreign policy reasons. The subcommittee will hear an update on Export Control Reform (ECR), presentations of papers or comments by the public, working group updates, and the deemed export panel. A limited number of seats will be available for the public session.

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is launching a 25-day comment period for an application for final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million to support exports to Saudi Arabia. Comments are due by Sept. 14 via www.regulations.gov, reference AP085466XX. The principal suppliers are Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group, Foster Wheeler AG, and Fluor Corp. The U.S. exports will be used for the design and construction of a petrochemical complex.

The proposed price hike in U.S. Commercial Service user fees will severely limit the ability of small- and medium-sized exporters to utilize its services,” said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in comments on the International Trade Administration’s June 13 proposed rule to increase fees on U.S. Commercial Service export promotion services. As proposed, the fee for the Gold Key Matchmaking service, which pairs U.S. companies with potential buyers in foreign countries, would increase by 153 percent for small- and medium-sized businesses, the Chamber said. The fee increase would be almost as large as that for large companies. Less than 1 percent of small- and medium-sized companies that export use the ITA’s export promotion services, and this proposed increase would further reduce utilization, the Chamber said.

The Agricultural Marketing Service released the “Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report” for the week of Aug. 15-21. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.¹ from the 10 member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA)². Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.

Global Metcorp LLC will pay a civil penalty of $50,000, of which $40,000 is suspended, and its President will complete export compliance training, as a result of a settlement of export control violations with the Bureau of Industry and Security. According to the BIS order, issued Aug. 6, Global Metcorp exported and arranged for the export of scrap steel to People’s Steel Mills of Pakistan, which is on the BIS Entity List. Global Metcorp’s president must complete the export compliance training within the one year from the date of the BIS order. If Global Metcorp fails to comply with the settlement agreement its export privileges may be denied for one year.