The Journal of Commerce reports that a federal appeals court denied a request for an emergency injunction to stop the Department of Transportation's U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking pilot program, paving the way for the start of the program, which the DOT hopes to begin as early as September 6, 2007. The program did not begin on September 1 as some had said it would because the DOT's inspector general had not completed the assessment of the program, which a DOT spokesperson stated was expected to be delivered September 5, 2007. (JoC, dated 09/05/07, www.joc.com)
According to Bureau of Industry and Security sources, BIS implemented the newest version of SNAP-R (Version 1.2) during the weekend of August 25, 2007.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has issued a press release announcing that it is seeking an emergency injunction to block the Bush administration from opening the U.S. border to Mexican trucks. According to the press release, the Teamsters were told by certain FMCSA officials that the FMCSA intended to grant authority to begin the program on September 1. (Teamsters press release, dated 08/29/07, available at http://www.teamster.org/07news/nr_070829_1.asp)
American Shipper reports that three Washington-based trade groups, which represent the policy and regulatory interests of U.S. exporters, have asked the Bureau of Industry and Security for a 30-day extension to provide comments for the agency's Commerce Control List review, for which the current deadline is September 17, 2007. (See ITT's Online Archives or 07/18/07 news, 07071830, for BP summary of BIS' request for comments on the CCL.)(American Shipper, dated 08/27/07, www.americanshipper.com)
Marine Link reports that despite the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) being roughly six months behind schedule and delaying the first TWIC card processing site until fall 2007, the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard still plan to require all mariners to have TWIC cards by September 2008. (Marine Link, dated 08/24/07, available at http://www.marinelink.com/Story/OMSAOfficialsTestifyAtTWICHearing-208605.html)
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued an electronic notice announcing that the newest version of SNAP-R (Version 1.2) will be implemented during the weekend of August 25, 2007.
The Los Angeles Times reports that counterfeit imports are flooding the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, the busiest in the U.S. and a focal point of enforcement efforts by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which states that counterfeiting and piracy in the Los Angeles area cost businesses $5.2 billion and is responsible for the loss of 106,000 jobs. (LATimes, dated 08/22/07, available at http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ports22aug22,1,2616784.story?ctrack=1&cset=true)
The New York Times reports that China is prepared to require that every shipment of food being exported to the U.S. and other countries be inspected for quality by the government, starting September 1, 2007, according to a senior trade official at China's Washington embassy. The official stated that all types of food would be inspected with at least one box in each shipment being checked and each package or shipment would be affixed with a government seal. The official also noted that the Chinese government opposes any mandate to hire independent safety laboratories (to test toy imports), saying that inspection is a country's sole authority. (NYT, dated 08/16/07, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/business/16inspect.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)
Reuters reports that the U.S. expects to complete free trade talks with Malaysia by the end of June 2008. Though the U.S. launched trade talks with Malaysia, its tenth largest trading partner more than a year ago, the negotiations faced an additional challenge after the two countries failed to reach a deal in March - a key deadline under the Bush administration's trade promotion authority, which expired at the end of June. (Reuters, dated 07/16/07, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSSP4759320070716)
MSNBC reports that Mattel Inc. has recalled about 9 million more Chinese-made toys from the U.S. market which may contain lead paint or magnets that children could inhale or swallow, just two weeks after it recalled 1.5 million toys made in China for its Fisher Price unit because of their lead paint hazard. Mattel stated that the problem was discovered as part of a wide-scale investigation into all of its Chinese factories following the discovery of the Fisher-Price lead paint problem. (MSNBC article, including a list of the recalled toys, dated 08/15/07, available at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20274625/)