The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has posted to its web site updated preliminary textile and apparel import data for 2005, which now covers the 2005 period from January to April 23rd.

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The Entertainment Software Assn. (ESA) called on the Malaysian govt. to increase its level of intellectual property protection after the country was included in a “Watch List” of countries announced Fri. by Peter Allgeier, the Acting U.S. Trade Rep. (USTR). ESA applauded the USTR’s action in placing Malaysia and other countries involved in widespread game piracy on the list. ESA Pres. Douglas Lowenstein called Malaysia “the primary source of pirated optical disc entertainment software in the world.” He said “the prevalence of pirated products and their export from the country hinders the development of legitimate entertainment software markets in target export countries, and makes it extremely difficult for game publishers to establish legitimate markets in those areas.” Exports of pirated entertainment software produced in Malaysia had been seized in more than 20 countries on 5 continents, he said, adding that the “problem of production and export by optical disc factories in Malaysia must be immediately addressed.” Although Malaysia remains the primary country of concern for the video and computer game industry, large-scale production of pirated entertainment software products also occurs in China, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine, ESA said. It said Russia remains on the Priority Watch List (PWL) but USTR also announced an out-of-cycle review will be conducted later this year. The ESA said it “urges USTR to continue close monitoring of Russia’s efforts in addressing the country’s severe piracy problems, to ensure that the country’s weak IPR enforcement regime is satisfactorily resolved before finalizing Russia’s WTO accession process.” China, meanwhile, was added to the PWL, “signaling USTR’s heightened concern over unabated piracy in the country and the lack of enforcement,” ESA said. The USTR’s Special 301 Report continued to list Ukraine as a Priority Foreign Country and named 14 countries to the PWL and 36 to the Watch List, with Paraguay remaining under Section 306 monitoring. Other countries of particular concern to the entertainment software industry identified in the report included Brazil, Canada and Mexico.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a notice announcing its fiscal year (FY) 2005 systematic review of its current substantive regulations to ensure, to the maximum practical extent, consistency among them and with respect to accomplishing program goals.

To spotlight neglect of intellectual property (IP) protection rights, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chmn. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Finance Committee Ranking Democrat Baucus (Mont.) introduced a resolution Tues. to highlight the damage done by China and Russia. Tallying over $4 billion in losses to U.S. creators of copyright products alone, the resolution cited those nations’ failure to live by international standards of protection and enforcement. The resolution, timed to coincide with World Intellectual Property Day, describes piracy in China and Russia as “open, notorious and permitted to operate without meaningful hindrance from the governments of those countries.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a guidance document, entitled Entry Types and Entry Identifiers, for submitting prior notice (PN) of imported food in the Automated Commercial System/Automated Broker Interface (ACS/ABI), mini-ABI (WP), or Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI).

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to determine the risks of injury associated with the mechanical malfunction of cigarette lighters. The CPSC is soliciting comments on certain regulatory alternatives and other possible ways to address these risks and the economic impacts of such alternatives.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule which would amend 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 98 on the importation of swine and swine products from the European Union (EU).

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule to amend its regulations at 7 CFR Part 319 regarding the importation of fruits and vegetables. Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 31, 2005.

The Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released its 2005 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), which is an annual report documenting foreign trade and investment barriers and U.S. efforts to reduce and eliminate those barriers.