The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has determined to waive certain discriminatory purchasing requirements with respect to goods and services covered by Chapter 17 of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), which will enter into force on March 15, 2012.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has released the President's 2012 Trade Policy Agenda and 2011 Annual Report. The President’s Trade Policy Agenda for 2012 offers a survey of how the Administration will support exports and two-way trade, enforcement of U.S. rights in a rules-based trading system, and through bolstered international trade relationships. It also outlines how the U.S. will partner with developing countries to expand opportunity, U.S. trade enforcement activities, among other topics.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an order under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) debarring Anneri Izurieta for a period of 30 years from importing articles of food or offering such articles for importation into the U.S. FDA bases this order on Ms. Izurieta's conviction of six felony counts under Federal law for conduct relating to the importation into the U.S. of dairy products. The order is effective January 13, 2012.
On October 6, 2011, Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) introduced the Trade Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 3112), which he states would utilize a Commerce Department complaint process to provide U.S. companies with a lower cost, less complex path to the USTR's initiation of a Section 301 investigation on market access barriers.
U.S. Trade Representative Kirk states the U.S. has submitted information to the World Trade Organization identifying nearly 200 subsidy programs that it says China has failed to notify as required under WTO rules. Information was also submitted on 50 subsidy programs in India not previously notified.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice requesting written comments from the public concerning Paraguay’s implementation of the U.S.-Paraguay MOU on Intellectual Property Rights, and additional actions that Paraguay should take, if any, to improve the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
The Food and Drug Administration has made available two presentations on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) -- one provides an overview of the new law, and the other focuses on its import safety provisions, which FDA states are the most groundbreaking shift of the FSMA. Both also list the implemented FSMA provisions.
On July 28, 2011, the U.S. International Trade Commission released “The Year in Trade 2010,” its annual overview of the previous year's trade-related activities.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced decisions not to initiate two “Section 301” investigations1. The decisions are in response to separate petitions filed in May 2011 requesting investigation of alleged: (i) misconduct by the Government of Israel during the negotiation in the 1980s of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement; and (ii) expropriations without adequate compensation by the Dominican Republic, resulting in an alleged breach of the Dominican Republic’s obligations under the DR-CAFTA2, etc.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that it is terminating all of the remaining 100% duty rates imposed on certain products of European Union countries as a result of the EU’s failure to comply with the 1999 World Trade Organization rulings in the EU-U.S beef hormones dispute. The USTR states that it is taking this action due to a 2010 court ruling, even though the 100% duty rates had been set to expire in August 2012 under an agreement reached with the EU.