This is a reminder that for continuous and single transaction bonds presented to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on or after January 1, 2012, only the new CBP Form 301 (with additional activity codes) and the new CBP Form 301A (addendum) with an expiration date of 03/31/2014 will be accepted. CBP will no longer accept the old 301 forms with an expiration date of 12/31/2010.

At the December 7, 2011 COAC meeting, COAC discussed the goals of its Bond Subcommittee, such as working with CBP to develop guidelines for the new CBP Form 301, the use of which is required January 1, 2012, and providing input into CBP’s plans to centralize single transaction bonds (STBs).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is seeking comments on a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., that includes a civil penalty of $600,000. The agreement would settle staff allegations that Build-A-Bear failed to immediately notify CPSC of a defect in certain of its wooden frame toy beach chairs, as required by federal law.

The Food and Drug Administration is announcing a December 19, 2011 public meeting and seeking comments on proposed recommendations it has developed with the regulated community toward a draft Generic Drug User Fee Act. The draft legislation would authorize FDA to collect user fees related to human generic drugs and use them for the human generic drug application review process and associated submissions, to conduct related inspections (particularly of foreign manufacturers), and to engage in other related activities for fiscal years 2013-2017.

The Food and Drug Administration is requesting comments on a proposed information collection regarding a guidance document on company requests, in cases of severe economic hardship or unique circumstances, to reduce the $224-$325 hourly fees for FDA reinspection and recall activities that are mandated by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

The global TV market will shake off weak demand this year to post a 10.2 percent gain in unit shipments in 2012 to 227 million units, TPV Technology CEO Jason Hsuan told analysts. TV unit shipments are forecast to grow 7.6 percent this year to 206 million, a sharp departure from a year ago when they increased 31.7 percent to 191.7 million, he said.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a notice announcing that it will increase the maximum civil penalty amounts authorized under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), and the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA)¹ to account for inflation. The new maximum civil penalty amounts will apply to violations that occur after January 1, 2012.

The Agricultural Marketing Service has published in the Federal Register a notice stating that the regulations establishing an industry-funded Christmas Tree Promotion, Research, and Information Order that was to be financed by an assessment (fee or tax) of $0.15 on each U.S. domestic and imported fresh cut Christmas tree, starting November 9, 2011, are stayed indefinitely.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a proposed rule to require that periodic testing of children’s products (starting in February 2013) be conducted using representative instead of random samples to ensure continued compliance of children’s products with all applicable rules, bans, standards, and regulations. The proposed rule also includes a recordkeeping requirement associated with testing representative samples.

With negotiations moving forward for Russia to join the World Trade Organization (see separate report in this issue), the U.S. must press Russia to improve its protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees told U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a letter made public Thursday. USTR’s most recent Special 301 review of countries with troubling records on IPR said Russia remains a haven for “widespread” piracy and counterfeiting, storage of pirated CDs on “government-controlled military-industrial sites,” gaps in enforcement and law concerning online piracy, enforcement that varies by region, and “selective” enforcement, the letter said. “Prosecutions and convictions do not necessarily follow” initial enforcement efforts, said Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Ranking Member John Conyers, D-Mich. “A high standard accession package will be essential” before Congress considers a vote to remove Russia from the statutory list of countries ineligible for “normal” trade relations, “which is necessary for the United States to enjoy the full benefits” of Russia’s WTO membership. The Judiciary leaders also pointed to a recent report from the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, which calls Russian cyberespionage “a dangerous threat” to the U.S. economy and national security. Even the progress made since 2006, when Russia and the U.S. signed a bilateral agreement on IPR protection and enforcement (WID Nov 21/06 p6), can’t outweigh U.S. skepticism about “the intention and commitment of the Russian Government to abide by and enforce the obligations it will assume” in the WTO, and especially regarding the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, the letter said. Russia must show its commitment through “transparent, substantive and prompt actions,” leaders said.