The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is proposing to codify its statement of policy on animal testing. The Commission has been approving since 2003 the recommendations of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) to reduce and refine animal testing applicable to test methods under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), the commission said. In order to make the ICCVAM recommendations and Commission’s animal testing policy more accessible and transparent to interested parties, the Commission proposes to update its regulations on animal testing at 16 C.F.R. part 1500, and establish a Web page on the CPSC’s website at http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/animaltesting.html regarding the ICCVAM recommendations and new developments in test methods that further reduce or refine animal testing, it said. The Commission also proposes to update its statement on animal testing policy to reflect the ICCVAM recommendations that have been reviewed and adopted by the CPSC as being appropriate tests for assessing hazards under the FHSA. In order to make this statement of policy more accessible and transparent to interested parties, the Commission proposes to codify the policy at 16 CFR 1500.232, it said. Comments are due around September 12.
CBP said new instructions for completing the CBP Form 301 (Customs Bond) and 301A (Addendum to 301) were posted (here). The new instructions are at the end of Form 301.
June 19 Food and Drug Administration public meeting in Washington, D.C., on its plan to expand the technical, scientific, and regulatory capacity of countries that export food to the U.S. -- www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/WorkshopsMeetingsConferences/default.htm
June 10-12 International Air Transport Association annual general meeting, Beijing, China -- http://www.iata.org/events/agm/2012/Pages/index.aspx
The Consumer Product Safety Commission scheduled a teleconference and the seventh meeting of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel ("CHAP") on phthalates and phthalate substitutes for 1 p.m. June 29. CHAP is to study the effects on children's health of all phthalates and phthalate alternatives, as used in children's toys and child care articles. In the teleconference, the CHAP will discuss its progress toward completing its analysis of potential risks from phthalates and phthalate substitutes. Further information: Michael Babich, 301-504-7253 or mbabich@cpsc.gov.
Ambassador to Botswana Michelle Gavin will present an overview of the current investment and business climate in Botswana and developments in major sectors of interest including energy, minerals, and apparel at 9 a.m. ET June 6. A Q&A session will follow. Register for the call here.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission scheduled a public hearing for 10 a.m. June 20 to receive input about its agenda and priorities for fiscal year 2014. The hearing will be in the Hearing Room, 4th Floor of the Bethesda Towers Building, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD. Requests to make oral presentations and texts of oral presentations should be captioned, "Agenda and Priorities FY 2014," and sent to cpsc-os@cpsc.gov, or mailed to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814 by June 13. Further information: Todd Stevenson, cpsc-os@cpsc.gov or 301-504-7923.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it will cancel a continuous bond where the liability was calculated pursuant to enhanced bonding requirements (EBR bond) upon its acceptance of a qualified superseding (replacement) bond application for all importers who were not litigants in any of the National Fisheries Institute, Inc. (NFI) v. CBP court cases at the Court of International Trade.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin issuing permits for the importation into the continental U.S. of fresh celery, arugula, and spinach from Colombia effective May 18, 2012, it said in a notice. APHIS said importation will be subject to the following phytosanitary measures: (1) must be imported as commercial shipments only; (2) each consignment must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of Colombia, including an additional declaration for celery and spinach that each consignment has been inspected and is free of pests; and (3) each shipment is subject to inspection upon arrival at the port of entry into the continental U.S.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a final rule, effective June 8, 2012, amending its regulations at 10 CFR Part 110 to expand the exemption from the requirements for a license to include exports of source and byproduct material in IAEA safeguards samples. The NRC said the final rule facilitates implementation of the “Protocol Additional to the Agreement Between the United States of America and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the United States of America. The amended regulations say source material samples may not exceed 5 kilograms per facility per year, and byproduct material quantities may not exceed the values listed in 10 CFR 30.71.