The Commerce Department’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness will meet Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. EDT in Washington, D.C. At the meeting, committee members will discuss competitiveness-related topics raised at the previous Committee meetings, including trade and competitiveness; freight movement and policy; information technology and data requirements; regulatory issues; and finance and infrastructure, Commerce said. The Office of Service Industries will post the final agenda one week before the meeting (here). The meeting will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Aug. 19:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Aug. 13:
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is denying the export privileges of Adrian Jesus Reyna, Arturo Guillermo Nino and Stephen Glen Guerra, after each individual violated the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Reyna was convicted (here) on Jan. 27, 2012 for illegally exporting a defense article. Nino was convicted (here) on June 12, 2012 for also illegally exporting a defense article. Guerra was convicted (here) on Feb. 6, 2012 for the same crime. Each conspired to export AK-47 rifles and magazines to Mexico. Reyna, Nino, and Guerra are each banned from exporting for a period of 10 years, until 2022.
The Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a bid by Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. to expand the service area of FTZ 26 to include part of Columbia County, Ga. The Atlanta-based FTZ now includes part or all of 60 Georgia counties.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Aug. 9:
The Commerce Department’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee will meet Sept 10 at 9:30 a.m. EDT in Washington, D.C., to discuss ideas for improving the competitiveness of U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency exporters in foreign markets. The meeting will consist of presentations from the Finance, U.S. Competitiveness, Trade Policy, and Trade Promotion subcommittees. Representatives from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the U.S. Export-Import Bank will also present on export financing. Written comments and requests to appear are due by Aug. 30.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) finalized on Aug. 8 a rule designed to limit the time period for submission of comprehensive narrative accounts for voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) to within 180 days of the initial VSD notification. Changes from the proposed rule include a requirement that the disclosing party designate a contact person in its initial notification. That will allow BIS to notify the disclosing party of the date the initial notification was received, for the purposes of calculating the 180-day deadline. The BIS rule was proposed in November 2012 (see 12110619). The final rule will take effect Sept. 9.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Aug. 8:
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on Aug. 6 announced her intention to lead a November business development mission to Mexico aimed at uncovering new U.S. business opportunities in the country and strengthening existing commercial ties, according to a Commerce Department press release. The release emphasized the importance of Mexico as a destination for U.S. products.