Apparel and children's product trade groups urged Ed Day, Country Executive for New York's Rockland County, to veto a referral to the state legislature that would ban certain chemicals used in manufacturing children's clothing. The new measures would duplicate existing federal law, the groups said in a letter dated July 6 (here). They would also be unnecessary because, under the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, states and counties do not have the authority to make any laws that are more restrictive than the federal standard, said the industry groups. The inconvenience to manufacturers by replicating existing regulations would not be offset by a significant increase in safety, said the industry groups. Following the House passage of a bill to update the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) on June 23 (see 1506240010), the trade groups continue to promote reform legislation at the federal level, they said.
A new trade agreement between the U.S. and Canadian cities will increase access between markets, offering each country more opportunities for importing and exporting, said Bradley University, which is involved in the agreement. The Illinois SBDC International Trade Center (ITC) located at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois signed an agreement with the World Trade Centre Winnipeg (WTC) as part of the U.S. Department of State's effort to "to develop closer ties between small businesses in the Americas," Bradley said in a press release (here).
The Energy Department is amending efficiency test procedures for packaged terminal air conditioners and packaged terminal heat pumps, in a final rule (here). Compliance with the revised test procedures is required by June 24, 2016.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is revising the scientific and common names for four wildlife species and 50 plant species on the Endangered Species List. The agency’s direct final rule takes effect Sept. 21. FWS says it will withdraw the rule if it receives “significant adverse comment” by July 23.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative removed Paraguay from its 2015 Special 301 Watch List after the U.S. signed an intellectual property rights agreement with the country on June 18, USTR said in a statement (here). The agency plans to conduct an out-of-cycle review on the country in the near future, the statement said. USTR released its most recent edition of the Special 301 report in late April (see 1505010009). Paraguay has "stepped up its efforts to strengthen IPR protection and enforcement" over the past 18 months, said USTR.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is removing exceptions for captive chimpanzees from certain Endangered Species Act restrictions (here). The agency’s final rule ends the separate status of captive chimpanzees, which had previously been classified as threatened while wild chimpanzees were listed as endangered. The final rule also removes captive chimpanzees from a 4(d) rule exempting certain primates from the general prohibitions of the Endangered Species Act. The final rule takes effect Sept. 14, at which point all chimpanzees will be listed as endangered.
The Energy Department is amending efficiency standards and test procedures for fluorescent lamp ballasts, in a final rule (here). Changes include reformatting and correcting the scope of energy conservation standards and removing an outdated test procedure. The final rule takes effect July 6.
Pro-transparency organization WikiLeaks launched a campaign on June 2 to generate $100,000 as a reward for the release of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating text. The organization aims to “crowd-source” the “bounty,” it said in a release (here). The U.S. and other TPP parties have shielded the text from the public, though WikiLeaks has leaked a number of chapters over recent years (see 1503260017). Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas and trade union officials also pushed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to disclose the text in a June 2 press conference.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is finalizing the removal from the U.S. Munitions Import List (USMIL) of articles that the agency has deemed readily available through domestic commercial sources (here). The final rule adopts without change an interim rule that took effect in April 2014 (see 14032622). Articles removed from the USMIL include military rifle scopes, ammunition belting and loading machines, mine sweeping equipment, and engines for tanks and other military vehicles.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is poised to put into effect weak rules of origin for products from a wide variety of industries, and China is likely to use it to boost exports and further undermine U.S. manufacturing, the AFL-CIO said in a report on TPP published on May 22 (here). The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as well as other TPP negotiating partners, continue to keep TPP negotiating terms shielded behind closed doors, despite growing calls for the U.S. to make the text public. The details that have come to light, however, indicate rules of origin are expected to be weak, meaning China could export a near-fully assembled product to a TPP country, and that product will still get preferential duty treatment when shipped to the U.S., said the report.