The Food and Drug Administration has no pending plans to get into regulating admission of goods into foreign-trade zones through electronic filing of CBP Form 214, said John Verbeten, director of the program development and implementation branch of FDA’s Division of Import Operations. Getting involved in the FTZ import process would play havoc with shipments of inadmissible product into FTZs that are then offered for import after being transformed into FDA-approved merchandise, said Verbeten at the National Association Foreign-Trade Zones’ 2014 Regulatory and Legislative Seminar on Feb. 11 in Washington, D.C. Absent overwhelming pressure from industry, FDA would currently rather not get involved, he said.
Notable CROSS rulings
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 4. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 4 with 251 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 180,562. The most recent ruling is dated 02/03/2014.
The Food and Drug Administration is proposing new requirements for the sanitary transportation of food. The agency’s proposed rule, set to be published Feb. 5, would apply to shippers, receivers, and carriers that transport human or animal food by truck or rail, including parties engaged in the international shipment of food in some circumstances. If an international shipper or carrier is subject to the rule and fails to comply, the food shipment would be refused entry into the U.S., said FDA. Any final regulations would take effect one year after publication, although small businesses would get two years to comply, said FDA. Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 31.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 22. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 22 with 254 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 180,313. The most recent ruling is dated 1/16/2014.
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) released new ICC Rules of Mediation earlier this month, it said in a press release. Effective Jan. 1, the new ICC Rules replace the ICC ADR Rules for amicable dispute resolution in place since 2001, it said. "The new Rules have been adapted to help parties resolve even the most complex cross-border disputes quickly and reliably. Changes include the setting of mediation as the default technique, as well as increased support from the ICC International Centre for ADR, the body administering the new Rules." The rules were revised by a task force of 90 specialists from 29 countries and validated by ICC’s Commission on Arbitration and ADR, the ICC said.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 20. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
The Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 would increase U.S. agricultural exports to global markets, including skyrocketing Asian economies, and tackle emerging trade issues, such as free digital exchange of information, witnesses told a Jan. 16 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the U.S. trade agenda (see 14011616). Passage of the legislation (here), the 2014 version of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), would help secure pending trade pacts that could replicate market access advances achieved through other free trade agreements (FTAs), such as the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States FTA (CAFTA-DR), said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Finance Committee ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., introduced Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) on Jan. 9, drawing praise and criticism alike from lawmakers and industry officials. The sponsors tout strengthened provisions for labor and environment rules, currency manipulation, intellectual property rights protections, foreign market access guarantees for U.S. companies and improved consultation mechanisms for congressional oversight throughout trade negotiation processes in an overview of the bill (here). The sponsors also emphasized the critical role the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities Act of 2014 (here) will play in bringing to close pending trade pacts, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.