The U.S. Postal Service is correcting the effective date of its June 22, 2010 final rule, which revised its mailing standards to treat all cigarettes (including roll-your-own tobacco) and smokeless tobacco products as nonmailable when sent in outbound or inbound international mail. The correct effective date is June 29, 2010 (corrected from August 2).
The Justice Department reports that John Webster Warwick, 64, a Virginia Beach, Va. resident, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to 37 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials to secure maritime contracts.The U.S. District Court Judge also sentenced Warwick to two years of supervised release following his prison term. In addition, Warwick forfeited $331,000 in proceeds of the crime.
The Department of Energy has issued a supplemental notice containing additional language and definitions to its December 2008 proposed rule to amend test procedures for residential clothes dryers and room air conditioners to provide for measurement of standby mode and off mode power use. DOE will hold a public meeting on July 14, 2010, and comments are due by August 30.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has announced that Plane Cargo Inc. (PCI), a freight forwarder located in Houston, TX, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $ 5,200 to settle one allegation that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations.
The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on nanotechnology which concludes that nanomaterials are already widely used in commerce, but the Environmental Protection Agency faces challenges in regulating their risks.
On June 12, 2010, the President issued Proclamation 8536 which amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to extend and establish certain sugar tariff rate quotas for Costa Rica under the DR-CAFTA1 and make technical corrections to certain other free trade agreement General Notes.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the International Trade Administration (ITA), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, will hold a public meeting on July 27, 2010 in Washington, DC to discuss the relationship between cybersecurity in the commercial space and innovation in the Internet economy.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is publishing the name of an individual in Serbia and Montenegro whose property and interests in property have been unblocked pursuant to Executive Order 13219, "Blocking Property of Persons Who Threaten International Stabilization Efforts in the Western Balkans," as amended.
The Federal Maritime Commission announces that Chairman Lidinsky and Commissioner Dye will address the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, on June 30, 2010, to report on the status of the investigation "Vessel Capacity and Equipment Availability in the United States Export and Import Liner Trades."