Officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade held an informal meeting on September 23, 2010 to discuss the pending U.S.-Korea trade agreement. The officials exchanged views on the timing and venue of an upcoming Ministerial-level meeting on the trade agreement and the overall state of play on the agreement in each country.
The Department of Defense has issued an interim rule, effective September 29, 2010, which amends the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement Executive Order 13513, “Federal Leadership on Reducing Text Messaging while Driving." The interim rule encourages Federal contractors and subcontractors to adopt and enforce policies that ban text messaging while driving. Comments are due by November 29, 2010.
The International Trade Administration has issued a Federal Register notice regarding the Commerce Department’s Internet Policy Task Force examination of issues related to the global free flow of information on the Internet, and requests public comment on government policies that restrict information flows on the Internet. Comments are due by November 15, 2010.
The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Department of Energy has announced that it is initiating a rulemaking to amend the energy conservation standards for certain commercial and industrial electric motors under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA)1.
On September 27, 2010, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Congress urging it to support legislation extending the Generalized System of Preferences and the Andean Trade Preference Act for Colombia and Peru, both of which will expire on December 31. The Chamber notes that while it has concerns relating to the continued eligibility of Ecuador under ATPA and it should receive greater scrutiny, these programs should also be extended.
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced that three additional airport projects have been selected for funding, paid for with more than $2.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars that became available because of airport projects that came in under budget nationwide. The three projects are: (1) Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, to fund the ongoing construction and paving of the new international terminal apron; (2) Lawrence, Mass., Municipal Airport, to fund several pavement rehabilitation projects on airport taxiways and aircraft parking aprons; and (3) CharlesM. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa, Calif., to allow the airport to complete the second phase of its terminal rehabilitation and replace the terminal building roof.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board has issued the following notices:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.
The Federal Trade Commission is rescinding its smokeless tobacco regulations, as recent legislation (the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act) transferred the FTC's authority for those regulations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS will now review and approve rotational warning plans for these products.