The Food and Drug Administration is alerting healthcare professionals that another cancer drug, originating from a foreign source and purchased by U.S. medical practices, has been determined to be counterfeit. FDA lab tests have confirmed that a counterfeit version of Roche’s Altuzan 400mg/16ml (bevacizumab), an injectable cancer medication, found in the U.S. contains no active ingredient. Even if the identified drugs were not counterfeit, Altuzan is not approved by FDA for use in the U.S. (it is an approved drug in Turkey). Medical practices obtained the counterfeit Altuzan and other unapproved products through foreign sources, in particular from Richards Pharma, also known as Richards Services, Warwick Healthcare Solutions, or Ban Dune Marketing Inc (BDMI).
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 ITC is publishing notices in the April 6, 2012 Federal Register on meetings that are open to the public pursuant to the Government in the Sunshine Act with the following AD/CV and patent related items on the agenda (unless otherwise indicated, these meetings are held at the ITC Building):
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of April 5, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board is issuing the following notices for April 4, 2012:
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the April 6, 2012, Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Court of International Trade remanded the all-others rate from the final countervailing duty determination of aluminum extrusions from China (C-570-968) to the International Trade Administration for further consideration and explanation. Domestic plaintiffs challenged the ITA’s decision to entirely base the 374.15% all-others rate on the non-cooperative mandatory respondents’ adverse facts available (AFA) rate of the same amount, and omit voluntary respondents’ rates from the all-others calculation. According to plaintiffs, this decision was prohibited by the governing statute, based on an invalidly promulgated regulation, and unreasonable and not supported by substantial evidence. CIT disagreed with plaintiffs' first two arguments, but agreed that the ITA’s methodology was unreasonable and remanded.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board announced two outreach events to provide training and enable discussion about the new FTZ regulations in Houston on May 17, 2012. In the first session, FTZB will provide general training open to anyone interested in attending, including grantees, and will cover a range of provisions of the new regulations. A second outreach session will be for officials of grantee organizations, and will focus on regulatory provisions that have a direct impact on the grantee role. RSVPs are required by May 14, 2012, to attend the outreach events. The FTZB also said it's planning similar events in San Diego on September 13, and will post details on its website soon.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said the multi-agency Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) seized about 28 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a container arriving at the Port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on April 3. The contraband, which tested positive for cocaine during a field test, was found onboard the M/V Freemantle Express arriving from Caucedo, Dominican Republic. ICE said there were no arrests associated with this seizure, but the investigation continues.
The Food and Drug Administration said TWI Foods Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, is voluntarily recalling Crispy brand cookies and Rusk, a hard crisp bread. According to the FDA, the affected products contain almonds and/or milk, two of the eight most common allergens, which are not clearly declared on the label. The Canadian-manufactured cookies products were sent to 28 U.S. distributors in 15 states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington.
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on circular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes1 from Thailand (A-549-502) for two manufacturer/exporters. These preliminary results are not in effect. The ITA may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rates for these companies.