Miscellaneous International Trade Notices
eTrucker reports that an appeals court has denied Public Citizen's request to invalidate the December 2007 interim final rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on hours of service (HOS) for truck drivers. The interim final rule retains the controversial 11-hour daily driving time limit and 34-hour restart provisions, pending further consideration of a final HOS rule by the FMCSA. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/21/07 news, 07122110, for BP summary of FMCSA's interim final rule.) (eTrucker, dated 01/24/08, available at http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=66220)
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
1. Appeals Court Denies Attempt to Invalidate FMCSA's Interim Rule on HOS
2. UN Session Sets Date for Global Agreement to Cut Carbon Emissions
Forbes reports that at the recent U.N. session on global warming in Bali, Indonesia, more than 180 countries agreed to conclude a global agreement to make cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels by 2009. (Forbes, dated 01/08/08, available at http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/08/warming-free-trade-oped-cx_gma_0108warming.html)
3. Ukraine's WTO Accession Package Approved by Working Group
The World Trade Organization reports that after 14 years of negotiations, a WTO Working Party has successfully adopted Ukraine's WTO accession package, which includes market access schedules for goods and services and a draft Protocol of Accession, among other things. The package will be put forward to the General Council for consideration on February 5, 2008. If approved, Ukraine will have until July 4, 2008 to ratify the deal. (WTO press release, dated 01/25/08, available at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news08_e/acc_ukr_28jan2008_e.htm)
4. Indonesia, Barbados Open Market to U.S. Beef/Beef Products of All Ages
The Foreign Agricultural Service has issued a statement by Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner announcing that Indonesia and Barbados have fully complied with international trade standards regarding beef and beef products by allowing complete market access for U.S. beef and beef products of all ages. Under this new agreement, USDA estimates that U.S. beef exports to Indonesia could potentially double in 2008 and 2009 and adds that exports of U.S. beef and beef products to Barbados were roughly $2.7 million in 2007 (January - November) with partial market access. (FAS statement, Release No. 0018.08, dated 01/23/07, available at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/01/0018.xml)
5. APHIS Announces Groundbreaking for Miami Plant Inspection Facility
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a press release announcing that on January 23, 2008, it broke ground for the construction of its new plant inspection facility, at which APHIS inspectors will inspect, process and certify the ever-growing number of imported plants arriving in Miami &8722; the U.S.' busiest port of entry for propagative plants. (Dated 01/23/08, available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2008/01/miamibg.shtml)
6. CPSC Imposes $105,000 Penalty on Missouri Trampoline Manufacturer
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a press release announcing that Stamina Products of Springfield, Missouri, a trampoline manufacturer, has agreed to pay a $105,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it failed to report in a timely manner injuries from defective mini-trampolines. In April 2006, the CPSC and Stamina Products announced the recall of about 668,000 mini-trampolines. (CPSC No. 08-171, dated 01/22/08, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08171.html)
7. FSIS Issues Instructions for Inspection Personnel Use of askFSIS
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a notice to instruct inspection program personnel on how to use the new askFSIS application for viewing commonly asked questions and submitting questions to enable FSIS to develop policy and provide a clear, consistent message regarding inspection related issues. This application provides inspection program personnel with prompt responses to commonly asked questions, developed from analysis of the collected data. (FSIS notice 7-08, dated 01/18/08, available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FSISNotices/07-08.pdf)
8. President Bush Issues EO 13456 Amending Foreign Investment EO
On January 23, 2008, President Bush issued Executive Order 13456 further amending EO 11858 concerning foreign investment in the U.S. (Presidential Document, FR Pub 01/25/08, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/25jan20081800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/08-360.pdf)
9. FAS Reports on China Forestry/CoC Certification, Ukraine FEZ Closures
The Foreign Agricultural Service has issued two attach reports which respectively state that: (1) in September 2007, China's State Forestry Administration published a new forestry standard that applies to forestry certification and chain of custody certification; and (2) on December 28, 2007, the State Budget of Ukraine was adopted by the parliament of which contained a provision abolishing all privileges granted to poultry processing operations situated in Free Economic Zones of Ukraine. (Attach reports, released 01/21/08 and 01/18/08, respectively, available by query at http://www.fas.usda.gov/cots/attache.html)