The Transportation Security Administration has issued a notice announcing that enrollment for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential for the ports of Juneau, AK and Galveston, TX will begin on April 30, 2008; enrollment for the port of Freeport, TX will begin on May 1, 2008; enrollment for the port of Sandusky, OH will begin on May 7, 2008; and enrollment for the port of Anchorage, AK, will begin on May 8, 2008. (TSA notice, D/N TSA-2006-24191, FR Pub 04/18/08, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-8423.pdf)
The leadership of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has posted a "discussion draft" of the Food and Drug Administration Globalization Act of 2008 to tackle the problem of tainted imports, create a registry of food and drug importers, etc. The Committee will be holding a hearing on this issue on April 24, 2008. (Memo on "Discussion Draft", dated 04/17/08, available at http://energycommerce.house.gov/FDAGlobalAct-08/041708.DiscDraft.Memo.pdf; "Discussion Draft" available at http://energycommerce.house.gov/FDAGlobalAct-08/Dingel_60AXML.pdf.)
Washington Trade Daily reports that House Speaker Pelosi yesterday opened the door for a vote on the US-Colombia free trade agreement - but not until the White House agrees to an economic stimulus package. (04/17/08, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued a press release announcing that, effective March 28, 2008, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Mexico's Secretara de Agricultura, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have established protocols for the export of U.S. and Canadian cattle to Mexico.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective May 2, 2008, that will amend 9 CFR Part 94 to state that uncooked pork or pork products that originated in a region considered to be free of classical swine fever (CSF) and are processed in a region where CSF exists may be imported into the U.S. under certain conditions.
The Journal of Commerce has issued a special report stating that redesigning the North American Free Trade Agreement would be difficult and unlikely. Not only would all three parties have to agree to reopen negotiations, they would have to agree to all the changes. This is more complicated than most critics realize because even though criticism in the U.S. centers on environmental and labor concerns, Canada and Mexico have their own criticisms such as foreign investment, trade disputes, and agricultural commodities trade. (JoC, dated 03/17/08, www.joc.com)
The Government Accountability Office has issued its report to Congressional requesters on port-related user fees, including the Harbor Maintenance Fee, the Merchandise Processing Fee, and the customs, immigration, and agricultural quarantine inspection (AQI) user fees.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued an updated version of its directive (9600.1) which provides guidance on the methodologies that employees of certain FSIS offices1 are to apply when surveillance or investigations identify meat, poultry, or egg products from a foreign country that have been illegally imported2 or smuggled3, or are intended to be illegally imported or smuggled into the U.S.
The Journal of Commerce reports that according to the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports' harbor commissions, the ports can operate under two separate Clean Truck Programs, even though they comprise a single harbor complex, as their fees, timeline for retiring old trucks and deadline for reducing pollution are the same. (JoC, dated 03/27/08, www.joc.com)
The Government Accountability Office released its report entitled, "Intellectual Property: Federal Enforcement Has Generally Increased, but Assessing Performance Could Strengthen Law Enforcement Efforts." (GAO report, GAO-08-157, dated March 2008, available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08157.pdf.)