The Labor Department is renewing the charter for the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy beyond its May 25 expiration date, DOL said (here). The committee consults with and makes recommendations to the Labor Secretary and the U.S. Trade Representative on general policy regarding labor and trade negotiations, and operations of any binding free trade agreement, among other things.
The Department of Energy on May 16 issued a final rule (here) that codifies an exemption from energy efficiency requirements for certain external power supplies sold as service and spare parts. The exemption, which was established in law by the EPS Service Parts Act of 2014, applies to external power supplies manufactured between Feb. 10, 2016 and Feb. 10, 2020, and made available as a spare part for an end-use product manufactured before Feb. 10, 2016, the date that new energy efficiency standards for external power supplies would otherwise come into effect. DOE will require that importers and domestic manufacturers annually report to the agency the total units of exempt external power supplies sold as service and spare parts that do not meet the 2016 standards. The final rule takes effect June 15, 2016.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have come to an agreement where FWS will inspect and clear import and export shipments containing any wildlife species, that also include non-living plant species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), said FWS (here). FWS said there had been a “recurring issue” over which agency, FWS or APHIS, inspects and clears shipments including both wildlife and CITES-listed plants.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements announced it will add certain warp stretch woven rayon blend fabrics to the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement short supply list in Annex 3.25 of CAFTA (here). On behalf of Tang Textiles & Apparel, Grunfeld Desiderio had submitted a request in April for addition of the fabrics, which are classified under HTS subheadings 5516.22, 5516.23, and 5516.24. Under CAFTA short supply provisions, any textile or apparel good imported into the U.S. containing fibers, yarns, or fabrics that are included on the list in Annex 3.25 is treated as if it is an originating good, regardless of the actual origin of those inputs. Addition of these warp stretch woven rayon blend fabrics to the CAFTA short supply list takes effect May 17.
The Drug Enforcement Administration placed brivaracetam into Schedule V of the Controlled Substances Act, in an interim final rule (here). Effective May 12, brivaracetam will be subject to new registration, labeling, recordkeeping, and import and export requirements. Comments on the listing are due June 13, it said.
The Energy Department is reopening until June 15 the period for comments on its proposal to require filing of “certifications of admissibility” in ACE at time of entry for products subject to energy efficiency standards, in a notice (here). The agency is seeking input on “how to minimize the burden of data collection to importers of covered products or equipment subject to an applicable energy conservation standard, while at the same time providing DOE with traceability information sufficient to determine whether a covered import is one that the DOE has previously identified as noncompliant” and give CBP a description of the import so the border agency can refuse admission, said the notice.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is temporarily adding two synthetic opioids, butyryl fentanyl and beta-hydroxythiofentanyl, to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final order (here). The final order takes effect May 12, and will be in effect for up to three years.
The Drug Enforcement Administration permanently placed three substances -- UR-144, XLR11 and AKB48 -- into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, in a final rule (here). Though the final rule takes effect May 11, these substances were already temporarily listed in Schedule I and subject to registration, labeling, recordkeeping, and import and export requirements, said the DEA.
The Defense Department is increasing by $100 the duty-free threshold for procurement of foreign supplies that are not eligible under a free trade agreement or are not “qualifying country suppliers,” DoD said in a final rule (here). The current $200 threshold was established on April 30, 2003. DoD said it received no comments on the rule, which was proposed on Nov. 20.
U.S. officials will meet with counterparts from 20 of other Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group member countries from May 17 to 18 in Arequipa, Peru, to discuss how to create more jobs and improve living standards through “next-generation” trade and economic policy, APEC said (here). Priorities for the 2016 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting include furthering regional economic integration, secure cross-border flows, small business participation in regional supply chains, food security, fisheries management, and “green growth,” the group said. Ministers will consider suggestions of the APEC Business Advisory Council and the organization’s official observers: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, and Pacific Island Forum.