The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced on August 16, 2010 the opening of a new plant inspection station for imported plants in Miami, Fla. APHIS states that Miami is the busiest plant inspection location in the U.S., handling 78.5 percent of all propagative plant material imported in 2009. The original facility was no longer able to handle the volume of plant materials received at the Miami port on a daily basis.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has made available the draft U.S. positions that will be discussed at the 19th session of the Codex1 Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods that will take place in Vermont on August 30 -- September 3, 2010.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announces a phone meeting of the Unified Carrier Registration Plan Board of Directors on September 9 , 2010 to continue its work in developing and implementing the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement.
The USDA's Radio News Service reports that a record rice crop could bring U.S. growers a somewhat lower price this next season, and that cotton growers could have an unusual marketing year coming up. They will harvest a much bigger crop and yet could get a higher price. USDA adds that a record crop, and strong demand for it, is expected for U.S. soybean growers in the next marketing year.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on August 11, 2010, the opening of the Haiti Apparel Center. USAID states that the new facility will help Haiti grow its private sector workforce by training more than 2,000 professionals per year to help meet the need for skilled workers in Haiti's garment industry. In addition to providing vocational training, the center will further enable Haiti to maximize the benefits of the Haitian Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act signed into law in May 2010, which improves U.S. market access for Haitian apparel exports.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a final rule, effective September 16, 2010, implementing endangered status for three species of birds from Latin America and the Caribbean -- the Andean flamingo (Phoenicoparrus andinus), the Chilean woodstar (Eulidia yarrellii), and the St. Lucia forest thrush (Cichlherminia lherminieri sanctaeluciae) -- under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits the take, import, export, transport, sale, etc. of these species.
The Office of Management and Budget approved on August 10, 2010 an Energy Department proposed rule regarding the International Code Council International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) with respect to energy efficiency for low-rise residential buildings.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a notice announcing that its Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee (MCSAC) will hold a three-day committee meeting concerning fatigue management of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) operators.
The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
On August 13, 2010, the Commerce Department released data for July 2010 that shows retail trade sales rose 0.4 percent following declines in June and May. "Today’s increase in retail sales shows that overall economic activity is still growing, although at a more modest pace than we would like,” Commerce Secretary Locke said. Census Deparment release available here.