The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued a proposed rule to revise and update its regulations in 50 CFR Parts 10, 13, 17, and 23 that implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
According to Washington Trade Daily, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the U.S. and Vietnam are expected to sign the bilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) accession agreement on market access on May 31, 2006. (WTD, dated 05/31/06, www.washingtontradedaily.com )
PierPASS Inc. has issued a press release stating that effective April 24, 2006, it will adjust the current Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) assessed on container traffic using marine terminal day gates under the OffPeak program to $50 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) or $100 per FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit or larger), an amendment from the program's original $40 per TEU rate. (Note that PierPASS had originally issued a press release setting the effective date for this increase as April 3, 2006.) (PierPass, dated 03/24/06, available at http://www.pierpass.org/press_room/releases/?id=26 )
In the March 15, 2006 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 40, No. 12), CBP issued a notice proposing to revoke two classification rulings on HyperD chromatography sorbents. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted its new Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) minimum-security criteria for highway carriers, which are effective as of March 13, 2006.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective February 24, 2006, in order to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding two cross-references to the General Order Implementing the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act (Syria General Order).
Washington Trade Daily reports that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff handed over the government's responsibility for co-directing the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). According to the article, COAC's February 9, 2006 meeting was co-chaired by Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Deborah Spero, while previous meetings had been co-chaired by an assistant secretary of DHS. (Washington Trade Daily, dated 02/10/06, www.washingtontradedaily.com.)