On August 25, 2010, APHIS updated its Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Canadian Border Agricultural Clearance Manual. This Manual serves as a guide for authorized Federal officers at ports of entry along the Canadian Border.
On August 25, 2010, the U.S.-China Business Council sent a letter to President Obama regarding the September 2009 imposition of Section 421 additional duties on certain tires from China. The letter urges the Administration to act cautiously in considering further Section 421 tariffs on other imports from China. According to the letter, the USCBC has found no evidence that the tariffs have had a positive effect on U.S. jobs and suspects that the tariffs have had an overall negative effect on U.S. consumers. The USCBC concludes its letter by requesting an International Trade Commission report on the effects of the Section 421 additional duties imposed on certain Chinese tires on U.S. consumers and job creation. USCBC issues brief available here.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a notice to remind the public of the user fees for fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011) for import- and export-related services that APHIS provides for animals, animal products, birds, germ plasm, organisms, and vectors; for certain veterinary diagnostic services; and for export certification of plants and plant products.
The Foreign Trade Zone Board has issued the following notice:
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a notice that lists those applying for ocean transportation intermediary licenses as a non-vessel-operating common carrier (NVOCC) or NVOCC/FF OTI, as follows:
The State Department announces that the Government of the Republic of Colombia has informed the U.S. Government of its interest in an extension of the Agreement Concerning the Imposition of Import Restrictions on Archaeological Material from the Pre-Columbian Cultures and Certain Ecclesiastical Material from the Colonial Period of Colombia.
The USDA's Economic Research Service has issued a report on Karnal bunt (KB), a wheat disease of limited distribution in the United States, as affected areas are quarantined to limit spread of the disease. Currently, the KB regulatory program allows the USDA to issue phytosanitary export certificates stating that a wheat shipment is from an area where KB is not known to occur. Some in the wheat marketing chain, particularly elevator operators, find the regulatory program burdensome and advocate ending it. A model developed by the ERS was used to analyze the market effects of ending the certification. An average annual loss of 15.1 percent in export markets for U.S. wheat producers would be only partially offset by increased use of lower priced wheat for domestic livestock feed.
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued two notices that either reissue or revoke an ocean transportation intermediary (OTI) license, as follows:
The Department of Energy has granted a nationwide limited waiver, effective August 6, 2010, of the Buy American requirements of section 1605 of the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with respect to certain solar photo-voltaic (PV) equipment that will be used on eligible Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy- Recovery Act funded projects. This waiver expires on February 6, 2011.
On August 23, 2010, APHIS updated its Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) Animal Product Manual. This Manual provides the background, procedures, and regulatory actions to enforce the regulations governing the import and export of animals, animal products, and animal by-products.