According to multiple press reports, the next Acting Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar. Aguilar has over 30 years of border security experience and was appointed as Chief of the Border Patrol for CBP in 2004.
The White House has issued a press release announcing the issuance of an Executive Order on the half-day closing of all executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government (except as provided in the Executive Order) on December 24, 2009. (Press release, dated 12/11/09, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-half-day-closing-executive-departments-and-agencies-thursday-decemb.)
The Department of Energy is allowing manufacturers subject to certain certification requirements for consumer residential products to remedy deficiencies in their certification submissions and/or to certify covered products. DOE will refrain from initiating an enforcement action for any violations of 10 CFR 430.62 that are remedied prior to 30 days from December 9, 2009. (FR Pub 12/09/09, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-29356.pdf)
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service posted new guidance in November 2009 on filing Lacey Act Declarations for articles containing composite, recycled, or reused materials.
The General Services Administration has posted to its RegInfo.gov Web site the fall 2009 semi-annual regulatory agendas for Federal government agencies.
The Port of Long Beach has issued a press release stating that 8,000 dirty trucks will be banned from port shipping facilities as of January 1, 2010, marking a major milestone in the continuing transformation of the harbor trucking fleet to improve air quality. Most of the aging big-rigs are already gone, replaced by 5,600 newer, safer and cleaner models thanks to the Port of Long Beach's Clean Trucks Program. An additional 2,400 new trucks are on order and will soon be put into service. The program successfully began phasing out old trucks on Oct. 1, 2008. By January, nearly 90 percent of all trucks calling at the Port of Long Beach will meet tough 2007 federal emission standards. (Press release, posted 12/01/09, available at http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=643&targetid=1)
The Treasury Department has posted its 2009 report to Congress on the International Trade Data System. The ITDS project is an interagency effort to build an electronic "single-window" system for reporting imports and exports to the government. ITDS will allow traders to make a single electronic report, with the relevant data distributed to the appropriate agencies. (See ITT's Online Archives or 11/10/09 news, 09111010, for initial BP summary on the report) ( posted 11/23/09, available at http://www.itds.gov/xp/itds/whats_new/).
The ITDS Board has submitted its annual report on the International Trade Data System to Congress, as required by the 2006 SAFE Port Act.1 The report includes updates on the status of ITDS implementation and the status of the Automated Commercial Environment within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, among other issues.
Note that Daily Update on Capitol Hill Trade Actions does not appear in today's issue of International Trade Today. Publication of this feature will resume as new information becomes available.
Canada and India have signed two Memorandums of Understanding: (i) a MOU to launch a joint study group to formulate the parameters of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA); and (ii) a MOU on Energy Cooperation. (Notice, dated 11/17/09, available at http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do;jsessionid=ac1b105330d85644cc998b534d26a1cb804fd4c3f8a3.e38RbhaLb3qNe38TaxuMa30Sai0?crtr.sj1D=&mthd=tp&crtr.mnthndVl=&nid=496789&crtr.dpt1D=&crtr.tp1D=1&crtr.lc1D=&crtr.yrStrtVl=&crtr.kw=&crtr.dyStrtVl=&crtr.aud1D=&crtr)