The Drug Enforcement Administration said it intends to temporarily add the synthetic cannabinoid FUB-AMB to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. DEA can issue a final order temporarily adding the substance after a period of 30 days passes. If issued, the final order will take effect immediately and will stay in effect for a maximum of three years, pending completion of a permanent scheduling order.
The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule listing the Guadalupe fescue (Festuca ligulata), a plant species from Texas and Mexico, as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Oct. 10.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is drastically trailing its goal to have Afghanistan collect 75 percent of its customs duties through e-payment by the end of November 2017, as a report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found that the nation was collecting only 0.59 percent of duties electronically at the end of December 2016. Dated Aug. 17, the report states that USAID has told SIGAR that it will complete a “root cause analysis” of the shortcoming by Aug. 31. USAID, in consultation with Chemonics, its implementing partner in USAID’s Afghanistan Trade and Revenue program, established the goal to reach the 75 percent level by the end of a planned $77.8 million project lasting from November 2013 through November 2017, the report says. USAID officials have suggested that “eliminating or significantly stemming” corruption in Afghanistan’s customs process could double the country’s customs revenue.
The Energy Department is setting new energy efficiency testing requirements for dedicated-purpose pool pumps, it said in a final rule. Compliance with the new procedures set by the final rule will be mandatory for certain representations made on or after Feb. 5, 2018.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is setting 2018 quotas for the manufacture and importation of controlled substances in Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act, it said in a notice. Substances not listed in the table included in DEA's notice will have a quota of zero. DEA is also setting quotas for the Schedule I chemicals ephedrine, phenylpropanolamine and pseudoephedrine.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plans to update its information collection related to "Implements of War" in form ATF F 6A (5330.3C), the agency said in a notice. Among the revisions is to change "all references from 'Implements of War' to 'Defense Articles' including the title of the collection, which will be changed to Release and Receipt of Imported Firearms, Ammunition, and Defense Articles," it said.
United Steelworkers (USW) in a statement urged the Trump administration to hurry up in taking Section 232 action against steel imports, after “news reports” indicated that the executive branch is delaying the conclusion of its ongoing investigation. "Delay is devastating,” USW International President Leo Gerard said in a statement. “Since the President announced an investigation in April, attacks on the U.S. steel sector have skyrocketed, with imports up 18%. Trading partners have targeted the U.S. market for fear that the United States will finally stand up for its producers and workers and protect our national security.” Gerard said enough “time, attention, and investigation” have passed for the administration to “know what needs to be done.” Started in April, the Commerce Department-led investigation could result in tariffs and/or quotas if it finds steel imports threaten national security.
The International Trade Commission on July 25 released its 2016 “Year in Trade” Report, an annual overview of developments in the administration of U.S. trade laws and trade agreements (here).
Makers of radio frequency devices can still put on traditional Federal Communications Commission logos, even though the regulator last month agreed to allow e-labeling as part of an overhaul of equipment authorization rules (see 1706280065 and 1707130045), an official said July 20. FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and Rashmi Doshi, chief of the FCC Lab, appeared on a Telecommunications Industry Association webinar (here). Doshi said e-labeling isn't a mandate. The order goes to some length to recognize that “the FCC logo is useful, even though we felt that making it mandatory was too much of a burden,” Doshi said. The label is widely recognized outside the U.S., he said. The Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are working with other countries on common approaches to e-labeling, Doshi said. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation has scheduled a conference on the topic for next month, he said. “We’ve already talked to Canada on some of the things that they’re doing.” Knapp said the U.S. is at the “forefront” internationally. “When I go to places like Europe or Asia, we’re always trying to inform people about what we’ve done in the hope that they will follow,” Knapp said.
Nine domestic industry groups urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on July 18 to persevere with the Trump administration’s Section 232 investigations on steel and aluminum, despite “vague speculation” about trade retaliation. “Global trade has been nonreciprocal, in part, because past administrations have wrongly viewed enforcement of trade rules as protectionism even as other countries made full use of those rules,” the groups said in a July 18 letter (here). The 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade allows countries to protect national security, and the World Trade Organization system prevents any “uncontrollable trade retaliation” for using the provision. There have been no such retaliatory countermeasures leveled against nations that assess trade measures based on national security, the groups wrote.