Having dropped ClearPlay, Thomson has thrown its support behind TV Guardian, which scans a DVD’s subtitle data and mutes the sound when offensive language is indicated. The TV Guardian feature is embedded in Thomson RCA DRC627N, 629N and 630N portable DVD players, which join a combo DVD recorder/VCR ($198) and several standard players that incorporate the tool. TV Guardian sells a stand-alone filter model 301 ($49) via Walmart.com. Thomson was among early supporters of ClearPlay, introducing 2 players in 2004 (CED April 9/04 p5) containing the company’s content- filtering software for skipping material users find objectionable on prerecorded DVDs. But Thomson’s ardor waned as ClearPlay became mired in litigation. In 2004, Thomson stopped supplying the RCA players, after DVD patent holder Nissim sued ClearPlay alleging infringement of patents on playback control software. A late 2005 settlement between ClearPlay and Nissim led to ClearPlay signing a licensing pact (CED Dec 2 p6). TV Guardian’s roster of 13 licensees includes Thomson, which signed in 2005, plus 7 other CE makers. Sanyo was the first licensee in 2002; earlier this year, 4 more CE vendors (CyberHome, Funai, Insignia and Polaroid) reached agreements, TV Guardian said. Insignia is Best Buy’s private label brand.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received a petition from the Sierra Club requesting that any toy jewelry containing more than 0.06% lead by weight, for which there is a reasonably foreseeable possibility that children could ingest, be declared a banned hazardous substance under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting comments in connection with its plans to conduct a Special 301 Provincial Review (SPR) of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in China. The USTR states that as a first step in this review, it is seeking comments concerning the locations and issues that should be the focus of the SPR.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final rule, effective July 10, 2006, which amends 7 CFR Part 319 in order to provide for the importation of untreated citrus (grapefruit, sweet oranges, and tangerines) from Mexico for processing (i.e., extracting juice) under certain conditions. APHIS believes that the conditions of this final rule will be sufficient for safeguarding fruit that are moving from Mexico to Texas.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued proposed revisions to its interpretive rule which advises manufacturers (including importers), distributors and retailers of consumer products how to comply with the requirements of Section 15(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (Act), which requires such parties to report potential product hazards to the CPSC.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a notice announcing its fiscal year (FY) 2006 program for systematic review of its current substantive regulations to ensure, to the maximum practical extent, consistency among them and with respect to accomplishing program goals.

Chinese leaders say they'll crack down on intellectual property rights (IPR) violations, but “we need to see more than just statements,” a Commerce Dept. official told the U.S.-China Economic & Security Commission at a Wed. hearing. Citing improved IPR relations between the 2 giant economies, such as a Chinese vow to try to thwart piracy by importing only computers with preloaded software, International IPR Enforcement Coordinator Chris Israel said: “We consider all options to be on the table.” If China doesn’t clean up its IPR act this summer, “it’s very possible” the U.S. will bring a complaint at the WTO this fall, said Tim Stratford, asst. U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)-China Affairs: “We will not shy away from dispute resolution.”

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final rule, effective June 23, 2006, which amends 9 CFR Part 93 for the importation of ruminants into the U.S. in order to establish standards for privately owned quarantine facilities.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final rule, effective June 19, 2006, which amends 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 98 in order to apply a uniform set of importation requirements related to classical swine fever (CSF) to a region consisting of all of the 15 Member States of the European Union (EU) that comprised the EU as of April 30, 2004 (the EU-15).

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule that, if adopted, would represent a significant structural revision of the fruits and vegetables import regulations and would establish a new process for approving certain new commodities for importation into the U.S. APHIS has scheduled four public hearings in May and June 2006 to discuss the proposed changes.