U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Revenue Division Bond Team has posted its February 1, 2008 issue of Current Issues, which has been updated to provide an effective date for the rejection of CBP 301 (bond) forms or bond riders submitted with extraneous liability limitation language.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective February 19, 2008, which amends 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 95 to remove several unnecessary restrictions regarding the identification of animals and the processing of ruminant materials from regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, aka mad cow disease) into the U.S. (Currently only Canada qualifies.)
American Shipper reports that the Department of Commerce has undertaken an intensive review of a recent committee report that recommended significant changes to the regulations that help control access to certain U.S. technologies by foreign nationals, and it has already begun to implement some of the recommendations such as the formation of an Emerging Technologies Advisory Committee. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/23/08 news, 08012330, for BP summary of the advisory committee's recommendations.) (American Shipper, dated 01/28/08, http://www.compairdata.com/compairdatanews/080728_010.asp)
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a notice extending the comment period for its November 2007 advance notice of proposed rulemaking on what new reference values it should use to calculate the percent daily value (DV) in the Nutrition Facts Label (for food) and the Supplement Facts label (for supplements) and what factors it should consider in establishing such new reference values. In addition, the FDA requested comments on whether it should require that certain nutrients be added or removed from the Nutrition Facts and Supplement Facts labels.
The U.S. Trade Representative added the Czech Republic to the agency’s Special 301 Watch List of countries deemed havens for intellectual property infringers. “We remain concerned at the continuing lack of effective enforcement measures against traders openly selling pirated and counterfeit goods in the notorious border markets,” USTR Susan Schwab said. But she said the Czech government is developing antipiracy tools. The listing came at the end of a USTR out-of-cycle review of the Czech Republic. The country didn’t appear on the regular or priority watch lists in 2007’s Special 301 Report, released in April. The RIAA thanked Schwab for the designation. “The government of the Czech Republic has thus far failed to rein in the blatant lawlessness exhibited at its many border markets,” said Neil Turkewitz, executive vice president-international.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice requesting comments by 10 a.m. on February 11, 2008 regarding whether any foreign countries should be identified under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 USC 2242), which is commonly referred to as the "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued concurrent notices announcing the availability of separate draft guidances on (1) the labeling of dietary supplements and (2) the labeling of non-prescription human drug products marketed without an approved application.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective August 17, 2007, that amends 7 CFR Parts 305, 319, and 352 by revising, reorganizing, and making substantive changes to the regulations pertaining to the prevention of pests in imported fresh fruits and vegetables.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Revenue Division Bond Team (Bond Team) has posted to its Web site its November 19, 2007 version of its Current Issues which has been updated to add a section on the withdrawal of continuous bond submissions.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to request comments on what new reference values it should use to calculate the percent daily value (DV) in the Nutrition Facts Label (for food) and the Supplement Facts label (for supplements) and what factors it should consider in establishing such new reference values.