The Office of Textiles and Apparel has posted to its website monthly reports containing official July 2010 trade data from the Census Department for U.S. imports and exports of textiles and apparel.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service has released draft U.S. positions in preparation for the 25th Session of the Codex1 Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables (CCPFV) in Switzerland. These draft positions were discussed at an August 30, 2010 public meeting.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service is announcing a September 16, 2010 meeting to review and solicit public comments on the draft U.S. positions that the U.S. delegation propose to use at the 4th session of the Ad Hoc Codex Intergovernmental Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance which will meet in Korea on Oct. 18-22, 2010. The meeting will be held in College Park, Maryland from 9 am to noon. The call-in number is 1-866-692-3158. The Pass code is 5986642.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a final rule, effective September 13, 2010, which amends its April 2010 final rule that established new performance standards for electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) installed in commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). FMCSA is amending requirements relating to the temperature range in which EOBRs must be able to operate, and the connector type specified for the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a proposed rule that would restrict the use of cellular phones and other personal electronic devices by drivers of commercial motor vehicles.
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 Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has posted the public version of the Section 301 petition filed by the United Steelworkers Union regarding a broad array of Chinese green technology policies and practices that USW believes violate world trade rules and threaten the U.S. alternative and renewable energy sector. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/10/10 news, 10091015, for BP summary of the petition.)
The White House has posted Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans that individual government agencies plan to take to achieve the environmental, economic and energy goals called for in an October 2009 Executive Order. The plans prioritize actions to meet the EO's energy, water, and waste reduction targets.
On September 9, 2010, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that the Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) rose 0.4 percent in July from its June level, rising for the second consecutive month. The Freight TSI has risen 5.0 percent over the last 14 months, starting in June 2009. The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.
After the Census Bureau's release of its July 2010 Trade in Goods and Services report showing that U.S. exports in July 2010 increased by 1.8 percent from their June level, while imports in July decreased 2.1 percent over June, Commerce Secretary Locke noted that “The increase in exports and narrowing of the trade deficit underline how critical exports are to our continued economic growth and why the Commerce Department and the Obama administration are working aggressively to achieve the goals of the National Export Initiative -- doubling U.S. exports in the next five years.”