Commissioner Nord of the Consumer Product Safety Commission has posted a podcast in which she and fellow Commissioner Adler discussed their differing views on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, as well as how they reached those conclusions.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a closed meeting on June 23, 2010, in which the staff will brief the Commission on various compliance matters.
U.S. Trade Representative Kirk met with United Arab Emirates Minister for Foreign Trade, Lubna al-Qasimi. Kirk and Lubna discussed a number of issues important to the bilateral trade relationship, including the potential for increasing the already strong U.S. business presence in the UAE.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announces that Messina, Inc. of Dallas, TX has agreed to pay a $10,800 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations when it furnished to a U.S. bank two certificates signed by the agent for a vessel that attested to the vessel’s eligibility to call at the port of a boycotting country.
The Food and Drug Administration is confirming the effective date of April 27, 2010 for the final rule that appeared in the March 26, 2010 Federal Register, which amended the color additive regulations by increasing the permitted use level of bismuth citrate as a color additive in cosmetics intended for coloring hair on the scalp for exemption from certification.
The Congressional Research Service has issued a report entitled, “The Future of U.S. Trade Policy: An Analysis of Issues and Options for the 111th Congress.”
The National Marine Fisheries Service has granted an affirmative finding to the Government of Mexico under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which allows certain yellowfin tuna harvested by Mexican-flag purse seine vessels or purse seine vessels operating under Mexican jurisdiction to continue to be imported into the U.S. The finding is effective April 1, 2010-March 31, 2015, subject to annual review.
On June 14, 2010, in San Francisco, California, the U.S. Trade Representative and agency partners across the Obama Administration hosted the first day of the second round of negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. The round began with a plenary meeting of all negotiators present from the eight TPP partner countries. The opening plenary was an overview of goals for the week’s talks: determining a framework for market access negotiations and the relationship between the TPP agreement and pre-existing FTAs, and defining a path forward on so-called “horizontal” issues including small business priorities, regulatory coherence, competitiveness, supply chains, development, and regional integration. Negotiators also discussed the amount of progress they hope to make this week in order to be in a position to begin drafting text before the third round of TPP talks in October.