The Bureau of Industry and Security announced that the National Defense Stockpile Market Impact Committee, co-chaired by the Departments of Commerce and State, is seeking public comments by April 19, 2012, on the potential market impact of a proposed supplement to the Fiscal Year 2012 Annual Materials Plan. The Defense Logistics Agency proposes to establish three new material research and development projects involving cadmium zinc tellurium (CZT) substrates, trichlorobenzene (TCB), and rhenium alloy.
Brian Feito
Brian Feito is Managing Editor of International Trade Today, Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. A licensed customs broker who spent time at the Department of Commerce calculating antidumping and countervailing duties, Brian covers a wide range of subjects including customs and trade-facing product regulation, the courts, antidumping and countervailing duties and Mexico and the European Union. Brian is a graduate of the University of Florida and George Mason University. He joined the staff of Warren Communications News in 2012.
The Food and Drug Administration is posting filer evaluation outcomes online, prospectively, starting from the beginning of fiscal year 2012, to help increase the accuracy of the information submitted to FDA and the accountability among the actors in the supply chain. This list will be updated monthly, and FDA will post the most recent outcome for each filer. The FDA states that, because this list is prospective, and updated monthly, interested parties should not make any inferences with regard to the status of filers that do not have filer evaluation outcomes posted on this site.
The following are trade-related highlights of the Executive Communications sent to Congress for March 16, 2012:
Officials at the U.S.-Panama Business Council state that the Panamanian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Ricardo Quijano, has set a goal of October 1, 2012 for the implementation of the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement. Quijano attended the recent “Panama Week” conference held March 15-16 in Washington, DC.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products that may be considered technical barriers to trade. Broker Power delays its publication of these postings for 2 - 3 weeks as there is often a delay until NIST makes the text of the regulations available.
The Census Bureau has issued AES Broadcast #2012021 as part of a new series of monthly educational broadcast messages on the Automated Export System. This month Census is highlighting AES error codes 256 (USPPI Postal Code Not Valid for State) and 628 (1st Unit of Measure Code / Schedule B/HTS Mismatch). The broadcast covers the reasons for these error messages and how to resolve them. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the March 18, 2012 broadcast.
The Census Bureau has issued AES Broadcast #2012023 announcing that the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) will host an Automated Export System (AES) Compliance Seminar and AESPcLink Workshops in Houston, Texas on April 3-4, 2012. Census experts will cover the filing requirements of the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), how to classify commodities by providing an understanding of the Schedule B classification requirements, and provide a thorough overview of the AES. The second day will offer a hands-on AESPcLink training Workshop. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the March 16, 2012 broadcast. Full details available here.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that on March 12, 2012 it began distributing the portion of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA, commonly referred to as the Byrd Amendment) funds1 that it did not disburse in April 2011 due to pending litigation. According to CBP, the distribution process will continue until each fiscal year from 2006 through 2010 has been completed. CBP states that, in the event that it does not ultimately prevail in the ongoing litigation, affected domestic producers may be required to return some or all of the funds they have received.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has revised and expanded its 2005 “Guidance for Certificates of Reimbursement” for antidumping (AD) duties in order to provide updated information on protests, the option for paperless filing using ACE, and provide additional information regarding blanket certificates, related parties, deemed liquidations, and certificates for companion countervailing (CV) duties.
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a proposed rule, that would amend 40 CFR Parts 260 and 261 to revise certain provisions on cathode ray tubes (CRTs) that are exported for reuse and recycling. The proposed changes include, among other things: (1) a definition for CRT exporter; (2) more detailed notification instructions for both broken (for recycling) and intact (for reuse) used CRTs; and (3) an annual reporting requirement for exporters of broken used CRTs for recycling. Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 14, 2012.