The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum), a bird subspecies found in Mexico, southern Arizona and southern Texas, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing includes a 4(d) rule for these species that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect Aug. 21.
The Federal Maritime Commission published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda and continued to mention several rules to implement the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, including a proposed rule to define unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods that violate U.S. shipping regulations. The FMC said it plans to issue that rule in December.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing the golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta), a flowering plant native to southwestern British Columbia, western Washington, and western Oregon, from the Endangered Species List, it said in a final rule released July 18. An FWS review indicated that “threats to the golden paintbrush have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the species no longer meets the definition of an endangered or threatened species," the agency said. The delisting takes effect Aug. 18.
The Centers for Disease Control is proposing new requirements for imports of dogs to address the risk of rabies. Under the proposal, importers of dogs that have been in a countries at high-risk for a dog-maintained rabies virus variant during the previous six months would have to submit a vaccination form on the rabies vaccination status of the dogs, and could only be imported through certain ports. Comments on the proposal are due Sept. 8.
The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking public comments on a new web portal, mandated by the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, that would collect "comments, complaints, concerns, reports of noncompliance, requests for investigation, and requests for alternative dispute resolution,” it said in a notice this week. The FMC is asking for feedback on "ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected," the "use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden," and more, the notice said. Comments are due by Sept. 11.
A group of New England-based clothing accessories companies and their owner will pay $191,481 to resolve claims that they sold their products as “Made in USA” despite importing them entirely or adding only minimal U.S. content, the Federal Trade Commission said in a recent news release.
Correction: Looming elections in the U.S. put pressure on negotiations with the EU on sustainable steel and aluminum, limiting talks because new elections would make announcing potential tariffs as part of the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum unpopular or maybe "not possible at all," Charlotte Unger, a research fellow for the American-German Institute (AGI), said during a webinar June 27 (see 2306270059).
If she is elected president, Nikki Haley will “push” Congress to revoke permanent normal trade relations with China for as long as Chinese companies continue to send fentanyl precursor chemicals to the U.S. and Mexico, she said during a June 27 event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. Haley, the former U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration who announced her 2024 presidential candidacy earlier this year, said China is “behind the fentanyl crisis that’s killing tens of thousands of Americans every year,” and Chinese companies “make nearly all of the precursor chemicals that Mexican cartels turn into fentanyl.”
Three automakers are changing their blanket coverage period for USMCA documentation, the Automotive Industry Action Group said in an emailed alert. Ford, GM and Honda had been issuing blanket documentation that covered the period July 1 to June 30 each year, as a result of the USMCA’s July 1, 2020, effective date. The three automakers will now switch to blanket periods that run for the calendar year, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, the AIAG said. The change will “better align with other trade agreements” and “make it easier for suppliers to manage their trade documentation processes,” the AIAG said. The change will take effect for GM and Honda Jan. 1, 2024, and for Ford Jan. 1, 2025, the AIAG said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is issuing a final rule listing the western fanshell (Cyprogenia aberti), a freshwater mussel species from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, and the Ouachita fanshell (Cyprogenia cf. aberti), a freshwater mussel species from Arkansas and Louisiana, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The listing includes a 4(d) rule for these species that prohibits importation and exportation without a permit. New import and export restrictions set by the agency’s final rule take effect July 27.