The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued an interim rule, effective June 1, 2007, which amends 7 CFR 319.40-3(b) regarding the U.S. methyl bromide treatment requirements for wood packaging materials (WPM) in order to conform to the International Plant Protection Convention standards.
The House Ways and Means Committee has issued a press release announcing that on May 17, 2007, a bipartisan group of 42 lawmakers filed a Section 301 petition calling on the U.S. Trade Representative to take strong action to end China's continued undervaluation of its currency, and to consider taking action against the undervalued Japanese yen. The press release notes that members of Congress filed similar requests with the Bush Administration in September 2004 and April 2005. (Committee press release, dated 05/17/07, available at http://waysandmeans.house.gov/news.asp?formmode=release&id=515.)
In making final BPL rules, the FCC tossed aside, “without even acknowledging the change, let alone justifying it,” 70 years of precedent that Sec. 301 of the Communications Act allows operation of unlicensed devices only when they can’t interfere harmfully with licensed operations, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) said in a brief to the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. The ARRL wants the court to set aside the 2004 FCC BPL report and order and an Aug. 2005 reconsideration order. NAB and MSTV support ARRL. The United Telecom Council and BPL providers like Current Communications back the FCC.
In making final BPL rules, the FCC tossed aside, “without even acknowledging the change, let alone justifying it,” 70 years of precedent that Sec. 301 of the Communications Act allows operation of unlicensed devices only when they can’t interfere harmfully with licensed operations, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) said in a brief to the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C. The ARRL wants the court to set aside the 2004 FCC BPL report and order and an Aug. 2005 reconsideration order. NAB and MSTV support ARRL. The United Telecom Council and BPL providers like Current Communications back the FCC.
Alongside familiar pirate haunts Russia and China, Canada sticks out as a Western nation lacking basic copyright protections for the Internet economy, said Congress members and copyright industry chiefs. Besides those countries, the International Anti-Piracy Caucus’s 2007 watch list, released Thurs., includes Mexico and Malaysia. Russia is getting steadily worse on intellectual property rights (IPR), but in some ways China is cutting piracy, the Caucus said. It chided Canada as a country that hasn’t gotten the brink of effective IPR protection. The watch list closely tracks the U.S. Trade Representative’s larger Special 301 list (WID May 1 p3), echoing its focus on Russia and China.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a notice extending the effective date of a portion of its final rule which established specific requirements for the importation of cut flowers that are hosts of chrysanthemum white rust (CWR)1 from countries where the disease is known to occur.
On April 30, 2007, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its 2007 "Special 301" annual report on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection by U.S. trading partners.
China and Russia again led the USTR Priority Watch List of weak intellectual property (IP) rights regimes in a Special 301 report released Mon. Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India, Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela also made the list. The report identified Russia’s AllofMP3.com and China’s Baidu as “notorious virtual markets” for illicit trade in copyrighted works. Efforts to shut down AllofMP3.com -- “the world’s largest server-based pirate music website” -- have failed, but Russian authorities are investigating the operation, the report said. And Baidu is the “largest of an estimated 7 or more China-based ‘MP3 search engines’ offering deep links to song files for downloads or streaming,” the report said.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposed rule that would revise its labeling regulations at 21 CFR 179.26 applicable to foods (including dietary supplements) for which irradiation has been approved by FDA.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a notice announcing the availability of a draft guidance for industry entitled, "Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration." Comments on the draft guidance are due by April 30, 2007.