The Foreign Trade Zones Board is issuing the following notices for June 1, 2012:

The Commerce Department's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee supports for the International Trade Administration's FY2013 budget and suggests items to consider during the proposed reorganization of the U.S. government trade agencies, in a letter and 11 recommendations it will deliver to the Under Secretary of International Trade at Commerce and other government officials.

The International Trade Administration is seeking comments by July 30, 2012, on a proposed information collection regarding requests for textile and apparel safeguard actions provided for by the U.S.-Columbia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) Implementation Act.

The International Trade Administration announced a Trade Mission to South Africa and Zambia November 26--30, 2012, to help U.S. firms find business partners and sell equipment and services in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, and Lusaka, Zambia. Targeted sectors include electric power and energy efficiency technologies, equipment and services; productivity enhancing agricultural technologies and equipment; transportation equipment and infrastructure; and mining equipment and technology. This mission will be led by a senior Department of Commerce official and will include business-to-business matchmaking with local companies, market briefings, and meetings with key government officials.

The Foreign Trade Zones Board is issuing the following notices for May 25, 2012:

Regulations pertaining to imports of cotton woven fabric and short supply procedures were withdrawn by the International Trade Administration. Effective June 25, 2012, 15 CFR Part 336 and 19 CFR Part 357, which provided for tariff rate quotas for cotton woven fabric and “short supply” voluntary restraints on certain steel imports, respectively, will be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. The ITA said both sets of regulations are obsolete, because the tariff rate quota on cotton woven fabric expired in 2009, and the short supply voluntary restraints have not affected U.S. trade for over 19 years.

The International Trade Administration's Office of Textiles and Apparel posted a new web page detailing information about the Qualifying Industrial Zones authorized by Congress in 1996. QIZs allow Egypt and Jordan to export products to the U.S. duty-free, as long as the products contain inputs from Israel. In order for QIZ products to be eligible for duty-free entry, the article must be a new and different article of commerce that has been grown, produced or manufactured in the zone, and at least 35 percent of the appraised value of a product at the time it enters into the U.S. must consist of the cost or value of materials produced and direct cost of producing operations performed in the QIZ. U.S. tariffs on textile and apparel goods are generally relatively high, which makes production of these goods in QIZs especially attractive, OTEXA said. The web page is here.

The Foreign Trade Zones Board is issuing the following notices for May 23, 2012:

Aquarium tropical fish imports to the U.S. are often misreported, according to a new NOAA-funded study. The study found 1,802 species imported, or 22 percent higher biodiversity than previously estimated. But the more than 11 million fish imported from 40 countries was less than previously reported because many freshwater fish and marine invertebrates were being mistakenly counted as marine fish, it said. It also said more than half of government importation forms during that time had numerical or other reporting discrepancies, resulting in a 27 percent overestimation of trade volume.

The President’s Export Council will hold an open meeting on June 6, 2012, at 9:30 a.m. to discuss topics and provide recommendations related to the National Export Initiative and export promotion. The meeting will be available via live webcast on the internet at http://whitehouse.gov/live. The public is invited to submit written statements to the President's Export Council by close of business on May 25.