Regulatory Agencies List New Trade-Related Rules in Fall Unified Agenda
Several agencies with a more peripheral role in trade recently issued their plans for upcoming regulatory actions in the Fall 2014 Unified Agenda (here). Among rules planned by agencies include new product safety standards from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and final changes to Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and CBP user fees for quarantine and inspection services. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration continues with its implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act and Drug Supply Chain Security Act.
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(NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list of import/export related regulations scheduled in the Unified Agenda. Many regulations appear in every edition of the agenda and are continually postponed. The rules listed below reflect new additions and notable changes from past agendas. See the full Unified Agenda for more detail.)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission included a host of new product safety standards in its list of planned rulemaking activities for fall 2014 (here). In addition to finalizing several ongoing efforts on magnet sets, infant sling carriers, and frame child carriers, CPSC said it intends to propose rules on all-terrain vehicles, table saws, firepots used with gel fuel, glazing materials in architectural products, high chairs, garage door openers, infant bath tubs, children’s folding chairs, phthalates in children’s products, hook-on chairs, seasonal and decorative lighting products, and extension cords. Notably absent from CPSC’s fall 2014 agenda is any mention of electronic filing of certificates of compliance.
The Agricultural Marketing Service for the first time says it will propose a regulatory exemption for organic products from fee assessments under commodity marketing and promotion orders, according to the Department of Agriculture’s Fall 2014 Unified Agenda (here). Meanwhile, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says it will finalize a fee increase for quarantine and inspection services, including those conducted by CBP (see 14042321). On the other hand, APHIS added a new entry to the fall 2014 Unified Agenda that says the agency will withdraw its 2008 proposed rule on the importation of genetically engineered organisms. The proposal had been issued for public comment three times.
APHIS continues to kick the can down the road on changes to its regulations on importation of wood packaging material from Canada. An entry in the Spring 2014 Unified Agenda said APHIS would publish the final rule in July 2014, causing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ask for clarification of the sooner-than-expected implementation (see 14063026). The Fall 2014 Unified Agenda now says the rule will come out in December 2014.
The Food and Drug Administration looks like it intends to meet court-ordered deadlines for several regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (see 14022124), at least according to its fall 2014 agenda (here). The agency lists August 2015 as its target date for final rules on preventative controls for human and animal food, respectively. It also says it plans to have final rules on the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, third-party accreditation, and produce safety by October 2015. Two rules that are absent from the Unified Agenda, intentional contamination and sanitary transportation of food, aren’t due until May 2016 under the Northern California U.S. District Court’s deadlines. Meanwhile, FDA says it plans to issue a proposed rule on licensing of prescription drug wholesalers and third-party logistics providers by April 2015. Under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, final regulations on the subject are due in November 2015, according to the agenda.