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, FSIS updated its Labeling Compliance Policy Guide on Poultry Food Product Dating. This guidance document conveys current practices and clarifies the requirements of the regulations with regard to the appropriate use of pack dates and slaughter dates on poultry food products.
The U.S. Postal Service is revising its Mailing Standards, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 503.9 and 601.11, to permit gift shipments sent by certain individuals of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to APO/FPO/DPO destination addresses via Express Mail® Military Service or Priority Mail® service with Delivery Confirmation™.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives requests comments on an information collection request regarding the Notice of Firearms Manufactured or Imported. Comments are due by September 23, 2010.
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has announced that it will be co-hosting a webinar on export market opportunities in selected markets in Canada and Mexico for U.S. apparel and textile firms on September 14, 2010. The focus will be on small and medium sized companies in the retail apparel industry. There is no cost to participate in this webinar.
The Agricultural Marketing Service has issued an interim rule, effective October 1, 2010, which amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances by revising the annotation of methionine to extend its use in organic poultry production until October 1, 2012, at the following maximum levels of synthetic methionine per ton of feed: laying chickens - 4 pounds; broiler chickens -- 5 pounds; turkeys and all other poultry - 6 pounds. Comments are due by October 25, 2010.
The State Department, World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently issued the following travel warnings, travel alerts, country specific information sheets, and disease outbreak-related information:
The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Bureau of Industry and Security has posted the following updated schedule for its export control and compliance training outreach efforts:
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.