The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule amending the packaging and labeling control provisions of the current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations for human and veterinary drug products. The final rule amends 21 CFR Part 211 by limiting the application of special control procedures for the use of cut labeling to immediate container labels, individual unit cartons, or multiunit cartons containing immediate containers that are not packaged in individual unit cartons.
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.
Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced on March 19, 2012 that he sent three separate petitions to the Food and Drug Administration requesting the agency permanently remove regulatory approval for the use of bisphenol-A (BPA) in (i) infant formula and baby and toddler food packaging, (ii) small reusable household food and beverage containers, and (iii) canned food packaging, on the grounds that manufacturers have stopped using BPA in these products.
According to the International Trade Commission, a section 337 patent complaint on certain food waste disposers and components and packaging was filed on behalf of Emerson Electric Co. on March 16, 2012. The proposed respondent is:
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice highlighting the antidumping and countervailing (AD/CV) duty-related provision of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KFTA), which took effect on March 15, 2012. Article 10.7 of the KFTA, which covers AD/CV duties, requires, among other things: (1) notification to the other party after receipt of a petition; and (2) the opportunity for the other party to take action on price and/or quantity of subject merchandise, after both initiation and the preliminary determination, in order to reach a settlement. This provision is not subject to dispute settlement, and only the notification requirements are binding.
The International Trade Administration has issued a fact sheet announcing its affirmative final determinations in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of certain steel wheels from China (A-570-973, C-570-974), its finding of AD critical circumstances for one company and the China-wide entity, and its finding of CV critical circumstances for all other Chinese producers/exporters.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a reminder that U.S. firms are required to submit their calendar year 2011 annual reports on offsets agreements related to sales of defense articles or defense services to foreign countries or foreign firms by June 15, 2012. Reports are required to contain information on: (1) contracts for the sale of defense articles or defense services to foreign countries or foreign firms that are subject to offsets agreements exceeding $5,000,000 in value; and (2) offsets transactions completed in performance of existing offsets commitments for which offsets credit of $250,000 or more has been claimed from the foreign representative.
On March 19, 2012 the following trade-related bill was introduced:
The International Trade Administration has issued a fact sheet announcing its affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty investigations of bottom mount combination refrigerator-freezers from Korea and Mexico (A-580-865 and A-201-839, respectively), and the countervailing duty investigation of the same product from Korea (C-580-866), its finding of targeted dumping for two companies from Korea, and its finding of AD critical circumstances for one company from Mexico.
The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled from March 20-23:
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.