The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final rule, effective March 7, 2005, that amends its regulations at 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, 95, and 96 regarding the importation of animals and animal products, in order to establish a category of regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) into the U.S. via live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts, and adds Canada to this category.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that adds a new Subpart J to 21 CFR Part 1 and a new paragraph (f) to 21 CFR 11.1 to, among other things, require the establishment and maintenance of records by certain persons (unless excepted) who manufacture, import, process, pack, transport, distribute, receive, or hold foods in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a statement that although the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed that an older dairy cow from Alberta has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the USDA remains confident that measures that Canada has in place, combined with existing U.S. safeguards and additional safeguards announced as part of the USDA's BSE minimal-risk regions final rule, provide the utmost protections. (USDA Release No. 0001.05, dated 01/03/05, available at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2005/01/0001.xml)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice requesting written comments on its Special 301 out-of-cycle review of China regarding intellectual property rights (IPR).
Catching and prosecuting international copyright pirates remains a tough problem in cyberspace, said federal law enforcement and industry sources. Despite well-publicized efforts by the entertainment industry to bust illegal file sharers in civil courts, these efforts are primarily U.S.-centric. In criminal cases, the task of convincing local law enforcement to actively pursue the bad guys takes time and finesse, experts said.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking comments by March 10, 2005 on whether and how it should amend the regulations in 7 CFR Part 319 that govern the importation of nursery stock (also known as "plants for planting").
In November and December 2004, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) issued Federal Register notices announcing 30-day comment periods for ten recent petitions requesting new, or the reapplication of, China safeguard quotas on certain textile and apparel imports from China.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a final rule, effective January 31, 2005, that amends 7 CFR Part 319 in order to, among other things, expand the number of states in which fresh Hass avocado fruit (Persea americana) grown in approved orchards in approved municipalities in Michoacan, Mexico may be distributed.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an interim rule which, effective January 1, 2005, amends the user fee regulations at 7 CFR Part 354 by adjusting the fees charged for certain agricultural quarantine and inspection (AQI) services for fiscal years (FYs) 2005 through 2010.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site updated information regarding its Pilot Bond Centralization Program for participating ports.