U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted to its Web site certain summary information regarding the upcoming Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative passport or other secure document requirements for U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Mexico or Bermuda entering the U.S. (i) by land from Canada or Mexico, or (ii) by sea from the Western Hemisphere.
A new FCC certification requirement for submarine cables is “burdensome,” duplicates other paperwork and doesn’t have “practical utility,” the North American Submarine Cable Association said in a letter sent Monday. The group said it has petitioned the FCC to reconsider a rule that requires applicants for streamlined authority to build or change undersea systems to certify that they're not in states where cable landing licenses might be subject to “consistency certification requirements” of the Coastal Zone Management Act. Consistency certification requires users of water or other resources in a state’s coastal zone to certify that they are complying with the state’s policies. “The Commission seems to believe that the CZMA obligates it to prevent processing… of cable landing license applications unless an applicant certifies that the cable system will not be subject to any state consistency review procedures,” the letter said. “But the CZMA, as it has been interpreted and implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, places no such obligation on the Commission.” In cases where no state has sought review of a cable landing license, “the Commission simply has no role in state CZMA consistency review processes,” it said. But “it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for an applicant to definitively determine whether or not a state requires a consistency certification for a cable landing license.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a fact sheet entitled, "Securing America's Borders, CBP 2007 Fiscal Year in Review," which provides details on the progress CBP made securing U.S. borders in FY 2007 and the challenges it faced. The following are highlights from the fact sheet:
Flat-panel TVs far and away were the promotion du jour in frenzied Black Friday sales, according to a Consumer Electronics Daily spot survey of multiple chains and stores in the New York area. And with six more holiday shopping days this year than last because Thanksgiving fell early, many retailers we polled said they expect the aggressive pricing we found Friday to persist throughout the holiday selling season.
In the October 31, 2007 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 41, No. 45), CBP published a notice modifying a ruling as follows:
Conterra Ultra Broadband and CellularOne of Arizona are working with the Navajo Nation to improve broadband and data transport across tribal lands. The companies and a proposed “tribal corporation” will develop an IP-based ethernet network providing middle and last-mile wireless solutions for cellular voice/data and broadband, plus high capacity bandwidth to communities, businesses, schools, and other tribal entities. The new strategy will “encourage infrastructure sharing… to maximize all available telecommunications facilities on Navajo Lands,” the companies said.
Conterra Ultra Broadband and CellularOne of Arizona are working with the Navajo Nation to improve broadband and data transport across tribal lands. The companies and a proposed “tribal corporation” will develop an IP-based ethernet network providing middle and last-mile wireless solutions for cellular voice/data and broadband, plus high capacity bandwidth to communities, businesses, schools, and other tribal entities. The new strategy will “encourage infrastructure sharing… to maximize all available telecommunications facilities on Navajo Lands,” the companies said.
Trans World Entertainment CEO Robert Higgins’ proposal to take the retailer private would end a 21-year run as a public company. Trans World has bought many competitors that struggled with the shift in music sales from CDs to digital downloads.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology offers an e-mail notification service which alerts readers to drafts or changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.
The following were posted to CBP's Web site: