The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice requesting written comments on its Special 301 out-of-cycle review (OCR) of the Russian Federation (Russia) regarding its intellectual property protection and enforcement.
Microsoft dropped a pre-E3 Media and Business Summit bombshell late Thursday, admitting its Xbox 360’s repair rate is higher than desired. The company said it is expanding the global 360 warranty coverage so any customer experiencing a general hardware failure indicated by three flashing red lights will be covered by a three-year warranty from date of purchase instead of one year. As a result, Microsoft will take a $1.05 to $1.15 billion pre-tax charge to earnings for its fourth quarter ended June 30 for anticipated costs under its current and enhanced Xbox 360 policies, it said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to consider, among other things, certification procedures for nations whose fishing vessels are engaged in illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing activities1 and bycatch of protected living marine resources pursuant to the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act (Moratorium Protection Act).
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an Import Alert and press release announcing that it will start detaining farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace, and eel from China until such shipments are proven to be free of residues from drugs that are not approved in the U.S. for use in farm-raised aquatic animals.
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted updated information in the "Hot Issues" section of its Web site regarding issues affecting U.S. textile and apparel exporters. OTEXA provides updated information searchable by country, date, etc.
On June 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2638, the fiscal year (FY) 2008 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection, by a vote of 268 to 150. (Congressional Record dated 06/15/07, available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/B?r110:@FIELD(FLD003d)@FIELD(DDATE20070615).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued an interim rule, effective June 1, 2007, which amends 7 CFR Part 319 to prohibit or restrict the importation of certain articles from Canada that present a risk of being infested with emerald ash borer (EAB).
Tweeter is weighing sale of the chain to private investors among options for reorganizing the bankrupt retailer, company officials said. Purchase of Tweeter could occur within 8 weeks as the chain weighs “any and all” restructuring strategies, including refinancing, an equity investment or sale, CFO Gregory Hunt said in a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Wilmington, Del.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a notice announcing the availability of and seeking comments on a document entitled, "Interim Melamine and Melamine Analogues Safety/Risk Assessment."
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a notice reopening the comment period on its draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing methyl bromide usage associated with regulatory requirements for importing wood packaging material (WPM) into the U.S.