The Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted an online registration form for the second meeting of the Chronic Hazard Advisory Panel on July 26-28, 2010. The panel must recommend to CPSC any phthalates, combination of phthalates, or phthalates alternatives that, in addition to those permanently banned by the CPSIA, should be declared banned hazardous substances.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that it will hold a series of public meetings, with the first on June 14, to discuss and receive public input on its draft proposed guidance concerning Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Validation for meat and poultry establishments.
The International Trade Data System states the ACE Helpdesk (Technical Support Center [TSC] 1-800-927-8729M) is having difficulty in identifying PGA users in order to reset their ACE passwords. The TSC staff is currently unable to display or locate valid PGA users in the ACE system user registry known as ITIM.
On his second day in Hanoi, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Marantis conducted intensive discussions with Vietnamese government officials on a wide range of regional and bilateral issues. Ambassador Marantis also met with Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang. They discussed their goals for the second round of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, to be held in San Francisco during the week of June 15, and how to develop it into a high-standard, 21st century regional trade agreement. He also underscored important bilateral issues affecting industrial goods, agricultural goods, and intellectual property.
The Government Accountability Office has issued testimony (GAO-10-721T) for a Senate Committee regarding Iran sanctions and the number of firms reported to have commercial activity in the Iranian energy sector and U.S. government contracts.
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted to its website monthly reports containing official April 2010 trade data from the Census Department for U.S. imports and exports of textiles and apparel.
In testimony before a House Subcommittee1, the Government Accountability Office recommends that the Food and Drug Administration strengthen its oversight of imported food by improving enforcement and seeking additional authorities.
The Justice Department reports that two U.S. military officials deployed to Afghanistan, two Department of Defense contractors and a contracting company were charged for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme related to the award of a DoD trucking services contract in Afghanistan.