The American Apparel & Footwear Association has submitted comments to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regarding the implementation of the Lacey Act provisions. AAFA's comments address the scope of enforcement, form and content of declaration, definitions, de minimis, enforcement of the underlying Lacey Act, etc. (Comments, dated 11/02/09, available at http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/letters/laceyactusdacomments091102.pdf.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice reaffirming the previously announced deadline of November 17, 2009, for the submission of petitions requesting (1) Competitive Need Limitation (CNL) waivers and (2) determinations regarding eligible products not produced in the U.S. on January 1, 1995, as part of the 2009 Generalized System of Preferences Annual Review.
At a November 4, 2009 meeting that will be open to the public, the Commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission will vote on a request for an exclusion from the CPSIA lead content limits for children's products.1 The request is for brass wheel parts of toy tractors, etc.
The International Trade Administration has amended its final results of the antidumping duty administrative and new shipper reviews of wooden bedroom furniture from China for the period of January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007.
The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of its countervailing duty administrative review of corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products from Korea for the period of January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007.
During the Bureau of Industry and Security's Update Conference on Export Controls on September 30-October 2, 2009, various officials from BIS, the Census Bureau, the State Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies gave presentations on various topics.
The World Customs Organization states that at the 8th Asia-Europe Customs DGs/Commissioners Meeting held in Greece on October 15-16, 2009, members adopted the ASEM Trade Facilitation Action Plan on Customs Matters (TFAP) for 2010-2012, which includes enhanced dialogue with business and exploration of the possibility to implement pre-arrival and pre-departure security declaration in line with SAFE Framework of Standards. (Report, posted 10/20/09, available at http://www.wcoomd.org/speeches/?v=1&lid=1&cid=2&id=172)
The Bureau of Industry and Security has adopted as final, with some changes, its October 2008 interim final rule amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to make the treatment of encryption items (EIs) more consistent with the treatment of other items subject to the EAR, as well as to simplify and clarify regulations pertaining to the export of EIs.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission will hold a second meeting that is open to the public on October 21, 2009 to discuss the following Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA1) issues (four of which were discussed at the October 14, 2009 CPSC public meeting):