The U.S. "is very concerned" that Russia imposed new requirements that U.S. beef and pork exports to Russia be tested and certified free of the feed additive ractopamine, said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a joint statement. They said the requirements "appear to be inconsistent with [Russia's] obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization" and asked Russia to suspend these new measures and restore market access for U.S. beef and pork products. The statement said Russia committed as part of its WTO accession package to adhere rigorously to WTO requirements and to use international standards "unless it had a risk assessment to justify use of a more stringent standard. ... This is an important opportunity for Russia to demonstrate that it takes its WTO commitments seriously."

The Enterysis Corp., based in India and San Jose, Calif., had its export privileges denied for 10 years after the Bureau of Industry and Security found it violated the Export Administration Regulations by exporting controlled items to India without the required license. Enterysys was charged with (1) exporting ceramic cloth to India without the required license; (2) evasion; (3) engaging in prohibited conduct by exporting electronic components to a company on then Entity List without a license; and (4) acting with knowledge of a violation. BIS found the company to be in default after it received no response to a charging letter, and no response to an administrative law judge’s recommended decision and order.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says requests for hearing or to intervene are due by Jan. 7 for two applications for a license to export high-enriched uranium filed by DOE/NNSA Y-12 National Security Complex (here) and (here). The uranium would be used at the HFR Research Reactor in the Netherlands, the BR-2 Reactor in Belgium, and the Maria Research Reactor in Poland . Requests should be made to the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555 or via http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. The NRC set similar rules for a separate request for an export license by EnergySolutions to export about 1,178 pounds of radioactive waste to Canada for storage (here).

Under all scenarios, the U.S. is likely to get net economic benefits from allowing liquefied natural gas exports, according to a study by NERA Consulting commissioned by the Department of Energy. The study will assist in the decision making process on whether to allow LNG exports, DoE said, but additional factors need to be considered. The NERA study said net economic benefits increase as the level of LNG exports increase: "Scenarios with unlimited exports always had higher net economic benefits than corresponding cases with limited exports. In all of these cases, benefits that come from export expansion more than outweigh the losses from reduced capital and wage income to U.S. consumers, and hence LNG exports have net economic benefits in spite of higher domestic natural gas prices."

The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule to correct references and typographical errors in the Commerce Control List (CCL). According to BIS, the corrections to the CCL “are primarily editorial in nature and do not affect license requirements.” The exception is ECCN 3A991, where a technical standard is changed. The following ECCNs are being revised (reason for revision in parentheses):

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. provided notice that it has committed to a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million to support the export of Boeing 737 commercial aircraft to Indonesia and/or Malaysia. The loans are to PT Lion Mentari and/or PT Batik Air Indonesia and/or Malindo Airways Sdn.

The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. approved a $1.06 billion direct loan and a guarantee of a $1.06 billion loan by JPMorgan Chase to Reliance Industries of Mumbai, India, for the export of American goods and services. The credit will support approximately 12,300 U.S. jobs, according to bank estimates. Among the more than 65 exporters and suppliers involved in the transaction are Fluor Corp., Lummus Technology, Univation Technologies, Bechtel and ConocoPhillips. Reliance intends to increase the complex's petrochemical output by constructing a petcoke gasification unit. Reliance also plans to erect a refinery off-gas cracker with matching downstream units that will better integrate polymer and polyester production.

The Department of Energy is seeking comment on several applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), including:

The Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. is to meet at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 17 in the bank's Main Conference Room 326, 811 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. The meeting is open to the public. Further information: Exa Richards, 202-565-3455.

The Census Bureau removed Port of Export code 1402 for Newport News, Va. from the Automated Export System (AES). Effective immediately, filers should instead use Port of Export code 1401 for both Norfolk and Newport News, Va., Census said. Port of Export code 1401 was also updated to include Newport News in its description.