The White House is asking Congress to pass a law that "would require importers of small packages to provide additional information to Customs and Border Protection officials so that we can keep track of these packages and better detect and identify packages that are carrying illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals and related machinery," and is giving agencies 30 days to review public-private partnerships with "shipping companies, freight forwarding companies, e-commerce entities" and others to see how effective they are in stopping the distribution of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, and asking for recommendations on how to close "key gaps" in those partnerships.
Alba Wheels Up announced Luis Eraña is its new CEO on July 30. Eraña, previously CEO of ProTrans, replaces Damien Stile, who will now be co-chairman of the customs broker and freight forwarder.
The Federal Maritime Commission issued a “policy statement” this week to explain that it can use subpoena authority and other “administrative investigatory authorities” when probing agreements between and among ocean carriers and marine terminal operators that may be anticompetitive.
The Commerce Department published notices in the Federal Register July 30 on the following AD/CV duty proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The Commerce Department looks set to recognize an Italian company’s name change for the purposes of antidumping duties on certain pasta from Italy (A-475-818). The agency preliminarily found Gruppo Milo SpA is the successor-in-interest to Gruppo Alimentare Mediterraneo Milo Srl (GRAMM), in the preliminary results of a changed circumstances review. The agency preliminarily found Gruppo Milo operates as essentially the same business entity as GRAMM with respect to the production and sale of subject merchandise, management and ownership, and supplier relationships. If Commerce confirms its finding in the final results, Gruppo Milo will inherit the AD cash deposit rate assigned to GRAMM.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is proposing to ban aerosol duster products that contain the propellants HFC-152a or HFC-134a, after finding there have been over 1,000 deaths from inhaling the products in the past 10 years, it said in a notice.
On July 29, the FDA posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
The FDA set potential FY 2025 fees for import reinspections, domestic and foreign facility reinspections, and recall activities the agency performs if a firm fails to comply with a mandatory recall order, though it still isn't invoicing for services associated with the fees, it said in a notice. The agency set FY 2025 fees of $340 per hour for domestic services involving travel and $373 hourly if foreign travel is required.
The FDA will set the FY 2025 fee for its Voluntary Qualified Import Program at $9,999, it said in a notice. The fee, effective on Aug. 1, is down from $14,975 last year (see 2307270006). It is required from food importers and must be paid by Oct. 1 to begin participation in the VQIP trusted trader program for the period beginning Oct. 1, the agency said. The fee will remain in effect through Sept. 30, 2025, it said.
Eight former Volkswagen factory workers who were union representatives will be reinstated with back pay, and one fired worker will receive severance pay, according to a remediation plan for Volkswagen de México, the largest auto manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 30.