The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective September 2, 2008, amending the Export Administration Regulations to establish export licensing requirements for Kosovo, which the U.S. recognized as a sovereign state on February 18, 2008.
1. LB/LA Ports Notice on Intermodal Container Facility Board Meeting
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a notice and press release announcing the initiation of a foreign availability assessment of uncooled thermal imaging cameras incorporating microbolometer focal plane arrays in China in response to petition received from the Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee (SITAC).
The Bureau of Industry and Security has reopened the comment period until September 22, 2008 on two recommendations made by the Deemed Export Advisory Committee in 20071 with respect to BIS' deemed export licensing policy.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has announced that the Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism Subcommittee hearing on the imbalance in the U.S.-Korea automobile trade, has been rescheduled for September 24, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. (Press release, dated 08/25/08, available at http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=067a362a-556d-4564-aeaa-7ca0c81cb902&Month=8&Year=2008.)
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union caucus delegates voted unanimously on August 21, 2008 to send the proposed contract to the membership for their review and vote. (ILWU notice available at http://contract2008.org/.)
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective August 21, 2008, to expand the scope of reasons for adding parties to the Entity List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule, effective October 20, 2008, which requires all export and reexport license applications (other than Special Comprehensive License (SCL) and Special Iraq Reconstruction License (SIRL) applications), classification requests, encryption review requests, License Exception AGR notifications, and ''attached'' related documents to be submitted to BIS via its Simplified Network Application Process Redesign (SNAP-R) system unless BIS authorizes paper submissions.
U.S. Trade Representative Schwab and Commerce Secretary Gutierrez announced that the 19th session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) will be held the week of Sept. 15, 2008, in Yorba Linda, California. The JCCT, a high-level government-to-government dialogue, identifies and works to resolve bilateral trade issues to expand trade opportunities. (USTR, dated 08/15/08, available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/August/asset_upload_file860_15069.pdf)
The Bureau of Industry and Security's Under Secretary of Commerce Mancuso gave a keynote speech on July 30, 2008, in which he discussed the BIS agenda for the final six months of the Bush Administration.