The Treasury Department released its proposed regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018, granting expanded authorities to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, Treasury said in a Sept. 17 press release.

The International Trade Administration announced five upcoming trade missions to beheld between November 2019 and April 2020. In November, ITA will lead an additive manufacturing trade mission to Europe, “designed to help export-ready U.S. companies launch or increase their export business in the rapidly advancing AM and 3D printing industries of France, Germany, and Poland.” Then, in February, an “envirotech executive service mission” will head to India to promote the wastewater industry, followed by an optional “Gold Key Service” in Mumbai or Hyderabad. Then, in March, ITA will lead the “Asia EDGE (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) Business Development Mission’ to Indonesia and Vietnam for the energy industry. Finally, in April 2020, it will lead a cross-industry trade mission to Asia in conjunction with the Trade Winds Business Forum in Hong Kong.

In the Sept. 17 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:

The United Nations Security Council renewed sanctions on the Central African Republic until Jan. 21, 2020, in a Sept. 12 resolution. The resolution continues an arms embargo against the country but removes restrictions on certain exports, including protective clothing temporarily exported to the CAR by UN personnel, humanitarian aid workers or members of the media for personal use only; supplies of non-lethal military equipment for humanitarian use; and supplies of “small arms ... intended solely for use in international-led patrols.”

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

China is amending measures surrounding its food safety inspections regime, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said in a Sept. 17 report. Random food safety inspections will be defined as "regulatory, risk-related or evaluatory as is deemed appropriate" given "varying priorities accorded individual inspections," HKTDC said. The revised provisions also clarify that all impromptu inspections must be selected randomly, revise China’s re-inspection procedures and more. The changes take effect Oct. 1.

The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls IT Modernization team is updating the third-party function of its Defense Export Control and Compliance System (DECCS) application, the DDTC said Sept. 16. The changes, which take effect Sept. 20, will require third-party users to “use a dedicated account to access a company’s information,” the DDTC said. If users need “access to multiple companies” as a third party, they can register “multiple accounts using unique email addresses,” the DDTC said. Questions should be directed to the Defense Trade Application System help desk at dtradehelpdesk@state.gov or (202) 663-2838.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, says he has not been able to see the written counterproposal on the NAFTA rewrite from the USTR to the House Democrat working group, but said that ending the ability to block panels in state-to-state dispute is under discussion. Grassley said his staff has had an overview of the administration's proposals to refine the new NAFTA, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, "and we look at it as something we can live with." He said he doesn't know how Democrats have received the counterproposal. "I think that’s more important than my reaction to it," he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency is issuing final rules setting new significant new use rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In one final rule, EPA is setting SNURs for 19 substances that were the subject of premanufacture notices (PMNs), while in another it's setting SNURs for an additional 26. As a result of the SNURs, persons planning to manufacture, import or process any of the chemicals for an activity that is designated as a significant new use by this rule are required to notify EPA at least 90 days in advance. The final rules take effect Nov. 18.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people and 16 entities for involvement with the Nicolas Maduro-led regime in Venezuela, Treasury said in a Sept. 17 press release. The people and entities are connected to Alex Nain Saab Moran and his business partner Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas, who have helped the Maduro regime to “corruptly profit” from imports of food aid and distribution within the country. The designated people include Saab’s two brothers, Amir Luis Saab Moran and Luis Alberto Saab Moran, and Pulido’s son David Enrique Rubio Gonzalez, Treasury said. The 16 entities -- based in Colombia, Panama and Italy -- are owned or controlled by the sanctioned people.