The Department of Defense has issued an interim rule, effective June 8, 2010, which amends the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate increased thresholds for application of the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements. Comments are due by August 9, 2010.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a proposed rule regarding the importation of Unshu oranges from Korea to remove requirements for the fruit to be grown in specified canker-free export areas and for joint inspection in the groves and packinghouses by the Government of Korea and APHIS, among other things. Comments are due by August 9, 2010.
In response to a request from the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, on June 1, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Bersin sent Committee Chairman Baucus (D) a list of metrics to help the Committee track CBP's progress in key areas of commercial enforcement and trade facilitation.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a proposed rule to revise the Defense Priorities and Allocations System Regulations to reorganize and clarify existing standards and procedures by which BIS may require that certain contracts or orders that promote the national defense be given priority over other contracts or orders. Comments are due by July 7, 2010.
The International Trade Administration is notifying the public that ITA Form ITA--362P, which importers of articles for the handicapped were required to complete in order to receive duty-free treatment, has been discontinued as of May 31, 2010. Form ITA--362P has been eliminated because the majority of the information obtained through this form is currently available to ITA through U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial System (ACS), and therefore the form has become redundant.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination (HQ H100055) that Sweden is the country of origin for certain lift units for an overhead patient lift system for U.S. government procurement purposes.
The President has issued an Administrative Order designating the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Defense as rotating Chairpersons of the Defense Production Act Committee, which shall rotate annually on April 1 of each year, with the Secretary of Homeland Security hereby designated to serve as Chairperson for the remainder of this first term.
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice requesting comments on the procedures the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements will follow in considering requests from the public for textile and apparel safeguard actions (in the form of higher duty rates) as provided for in the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act.1
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is suspending the use of informal hearings for enforcement actions, effective June 7, 2010, pending re-evaluation of the informal hearing procedure authorized under its Rules of Practice, which will include consideration of possible regulatory changes as well as implementation strategies. Comments are due by August 6, 2010.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued its annual list of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard (SPS)-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex)1 as well as other standard-setting activities of Codex, including commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice and revised texts.