Two Pakistani nationals were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia Nov. 6 on charges that they operated Internet sites that illegally shipped pharmaceuticals from Pakistan and the U.K. to the U.S. Sheikh Waseem Ul Haq, 39, and Tahir Saeed, 50, are accused of operating Internet sites that, since late 2005, illegally shipped $2 million of pharmaceuticals to customers worldwide, including nearly $780,000 in sales to U.S. purchasers. The drugs shipped into the U.S. included methylphenidate (sold as Ritalin); various anabolic steroids; alprazolam (sold as Xanax); diazepam (sold as Valium), lorazepam (sold as Ativan), and clonazepam (sold as Klonapin).

The James L. Watson Courthouse, which houses the Court of International Trade, is now open after being closed for more than a week due to Hurricane Sandy, CIT said. CIT had itself been open for business since Nov. 5, even though the courthouse was closed. In a posting on its website, CIT previously said on Nov. 5 that all filing deadlines should be met unless an extension of time is granted by CIT in the particular action.

A NAFTA Panel review of the final results of the Mexican antidumping administrative review of ethylene glycol monobutyl from the U.S. was requested Oct. 9 by Eastman Chemical, said the International Trade Administration. The final results of the administrative review were published in the Sept. 11 Diario Oficial. Eastman was assigned an AD rate of 14.81 percent by the Mexican Secretary of Economy. The deadline for parties to file notices of appearance to participate in the NAFTA panel review is Nov. 23, the ITA said.

The Court of International Trade is now open as of Nov. 5, but the James L. Watson Courthouse remains closed because it has no heat, CIT said in an update on its website. For the purposes of Rule 6(a)(3), the Clerk’s Office is accessible and all filing deadlines should be met unless an extension of time is granted by CIT in the particular action, it said. For those wanting to make filings in person, contact the CIT emergency hotline at (646) 938-7537.

Two German shipping companies pleaded guilty in Houston federal court to criminal charges that they concealed the illegal dumping of oil at sea from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. Nimmrich & Prahm Bereederung and Nimmrich & Prahm Reederei, the operator and owner of the commercial cargo vessel M/V Susan K, will pay a $1.2 million dollar criminal penalty, $200,000 of which will go to the National Marine Sanctuaries Fund as a community service payment. As a condition of probation, all vessels owned or operated by the defendants will be prohibited from entering U.S. ports or waters for five years. According to the plea agreement, the chief engineer and other crew members repeatedly discharged oily bilge waste water from the vessel into the ocean from before Aug. 1, 2011, to March 4, 2012. The chief engineer then falsified the vessel's oil record book to conceal the dumping, it said.

A California man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for violations of the Export Administration Regulations by selling export-controlled microwave amplifiers to China without the required license, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fu-Tain Lu was also ordered to serve three years of suspended release, pay a $5,000 fine, and forfeit 36 microwave amplifiers worth $136,000.

The Court of International Trade will remain closed through Nov. 2 because of the effects of Hurricane Sandy, it said on its website. CIT gave no indication on when it would reopen in its message. Check the CIT website or call the information line at (212) 264-2800 for updates, CIT said.

An Army sergeant was sentenced Oct. 30 to 46 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations violations, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Fidel Ignacio Cisneros, 42, stole ITAR-controlled items while deployed for duty and, upon returning to the U.S., exported them without the required State Department licenses, ICE said.

A NAFTA panel affirmed the International Trade Administration’s use of zeroing in the 2005-06 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from Canada (A-122-840). Because NAFTA panels must apply the domestic law of the investigating country, the panel had remanded in May the ITA’s use of zeroing in administrative reviews but not investigations for further explanation, in light of Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rulings in JTEKT and Dongbu. The panel found the ITA’s explanation reasonable.

Itochu Building Products appealed a Court of International Trade ruling against its challenge of the effective date for partial revocation of the antidumping duty order on steel nails from China for four types of nails. In September, CIT said that although both domestic parties and Itochu requested an earlier effective date for the partial revocation, Itochu waived its right to challenge the later effective date selected by the International Trade Administration when it failed to comment on the later date following its announcement in the ITA’s preliminary results of the changed circumstances review. Through its lack of action, Itochu effectively communicated to the ITA that it no longer objected to the later effective date, CIT said.