The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The General Department of Vietnam Customs has issued decisions: (1) regulating customs supervisions of goods on exit and entry, in and out of land border gate areas and (2) specifying customs procedures of international connecting trains on exit or entry; luggage of people on exit or entry; and customs control at international and inland connecting railway stations.
The Department of Transportation’s fiscal year 2012 budget request for $129 billion is a 66% increase above FY 2010, the last enacted appropriated level.1 It would include a $50 billion “up-front” economic boost to improve U.S. infrastructure, funding for the U.S.-Mexico Cross-Border trucking program, a six year surface transportation reauthorization proposal at increased funding levels, and new user fees for those that transport hazardous materials, etc.
China's Ministry of Commerce reports that the Ministry of Land and Resources announced the establishment of 11 state-planned rare earth mining zones in Ganzhou Prefecture of east China's Jiangxi Province, an area rich in ion-absorbed-type rare earth. The Ministry states that China's decision to set up its first group of rare earth mining zones with state planning is aimed at protecting resources as well as the environment. It also designated two state-planned iron mining zones in Panzhihua, western Sichuan Province.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for February 7-11, 2011 in case they were missed last week.
Atari’s Test Drive Unlimited 2 became the best-selling game in the U.K. its first week available, according to Chart Track’s leisure software chart for the week through Saturday. The Xbox 360 version accounted for 68 percent of the title’s sales, versus 28 percent for the PS3 SKU and 4 percent for the PC version, said the Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment, which released the data. There was one other new release in the top 10: Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition, at No. 9. The PS3 version accounted for 58 percent of its sales, versus 39 percent for the 360 SKU and 3 percent for the PC version. Dead Space 2 from Electronic Arts (EA) for the 360, PS3 and PC, the prior week’s No. 1 game (CED Feb 8 p8), dipped to No. 2 in its third week. EA had one other multiplatform game in the top 10: FIFA 11, down one at No. 3 in its 20th week. Its Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and The Sims 3 fell out of the top 10. Ubisoft and Nintendo each had two games in the top 10. Ubisoft’s were Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for the 360 and PS3, down two, No. 5, 13th week, and Just Dance 2 for the Wii, down one, No. 7, 18th week. Nintendo’s were Mario vs. Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem for the DS, up five, No. 6, second week, and Mario Sports Mix for the Wii, up four, No. 8, second week. Its Art Academy and Wii Fit Plus fell out of the top 10. Rounding out the top 10 were Activision’s multiplatform Call of Duty: Black Ops, No. 4 again, 14th week, and Sony Computer Entertainment’s PS3 game LittleBigPlanet 2, down five, No. 10, fourth week.
On February 14, 2011, President Obama transmitted his $3.73 trillion budget for the 2012 fiscal year. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the proposal includes more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction, two-thirds of which would come from spending cuts, in an effort to bring the U.S. deficit down to about 3% of the economy by the middle of the decade.
Three notices of proposed rulemaking about Indian Country communications will be considered at the FCC’s March 3 meeting, a public notice said. One is a Native Nations spectrum notice, which will “explore a range of recommendations to help close the wireless gap on Tribal Lands,” the notice said. The FCC will also take up a further notice about tribal and rural radio and orders concerning radio service in tribal areas, and a further notice on adopting a tribal bidding credit as well as “alternative ways to foster radio service by Native Nations on their lands.” The commission also is taking up an “omnibus” notice of inquiry about improving communications for Native Americans. (See the related report in this issue.)
A draft FCC rulemaking notice on retransmission consent deals asks many questions about rules and practices covering the broadcast and pay-TV industries and draws few tentative conclusions, commission and industry officials said Friday. The notice circulated about 7 p.m. Thursday, FCC officials said. The agency confirmed that it’s on the tentative agenda for the March 3 meeting, as had been expected (CD Feb 8 p1). Cable, DBS and telco-TV companies and public interest groups had sought such a rulemaking, while broadcasters have said retrans works well now. Other media issues to be voted on at next month’s meeting are an order that may make it harder for radio stations to move and a rulemaking on video descriptions, agency officials said.
CBP has issued the following news releases: