China joined calls for the Energy Department to reassess its proposed filing requirements for energy efficiency certifications at time of entry (see 1512290020), telling the agency in recently submitted comments (here) that the proposed rule violates World Trade Organization rules. As did South Korea in its own recent comments (see 1604290017), China said the proposed requirements would act as a barrier to imports, unfairly and unnecessarily advantaging domestic goods subject to energy efficiency standards over imported components. China also took issue with DOE’s estimate of the burden to industry. In its proposed rule, DOE calculated the cost imposed on industry based on the time spent entering the data on entry documentation, which “does not take into account” extra time “spent by users on information search, comparison and inspection before the entry of the system,” said China. The proposed rule itself lists as a goal the simplification of customs procedures, noted the comments. “We think that unlike [health and plant health] related quarantine risks, the risks related to energy efficiency can be identified and controlled after the products enter the territory, so it is not necessarily to implement energy efficiency regulation at the port,” said China.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is seeking input (here) on whether it should amend its regulations to provide for more specific marking requirements for firearm silencers and mufflers. Comments on ATF’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking are due Aug. 2.
California implemented a rule that allows temporary use of a point-of-sale warning message for bisphenol A (BPA) exposure from canned and bottled foods and drinks, according to a notification released April 28 by the World Trade Organization Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (here). The emergency regulatory action will expire on Oct. 18, according to the rule text (here). Certificates of compliance are due no later than Oct. 17.
New import filing requirements proposed by the Energy Department for products subject to energy efficiency standards would violate World Trade Organization rules on treatment of imports, said the government in South Korea in comments to the agency dated April 24. Requiring that filers submit “certifications of admissibility” would impose a greater burden on imports than on domestically produced products, and would be more restrictive than necessary to fulfill the Energy Department’s compliance goals, said the letter, which came in response to a DOE proposed rule issued Dec. 29 (see 1512290020). Importers already have an annual certification on file with DOE, noted South Korea. DOE should instead rely on that annual certification to check compliance with regulations during customs clearance, it said. The letter, which was filed over a month after comments were due, also requests an extension of the deadline for comments given the WTO was only notified of the standard on Feb. 2 and the comment deadline came shortly afterward on March 14.
The Energy Department is amending its energy efficiency test procedures for fluorescent lamp ballasts, in a final rule (here). The amended procedures must be used for product testing conducted on or after June 28.
The United Steelworkers on April 22 withdrew a recently filed petition for Section 201 safeguard duties on unwrought aluminum from China, “suspending” its bid for additional duties as high as 50 percent to address factory closures due to global overcapacity, it said (here). The labor union says many in industry opposed the safeguard petition, putting their “short-term interests over the long-term viability of the sector,” said its statement. “This opposition could have resulted in no relief for the remaining domestic industry and our members.” Nonetheless, the short-lived petition “sparked long-overdue discussions that we hope will lead to a coordinated effort to address” Chinese overcapacity and market-distorting behavior,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., according to the USW statement. The April 18 petition sought four years of safeguard duties starting at 50 percent on primary unwrought aluminum (see 1604180021).
The U.S. on April 19 filed a notice of appeal in a World Trade Organization dispute with South Korea regarding antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential clothes washers from the country, WTO said (here). The WTO in March ruled against several aspects of how the U.S. calculated AD/CV duties on the washers (see 1603150025).
Foreign fireworks manufacturers may now designate more than one U.S. Designated Agent, said the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in a policy statement published on April 19 (here). Non-resident fireworks manufacturers had been restricted to use one U.S. designated agent, said PHMSA. The agency also recommended applicants to manufacture fireworks list their email address and that of their agent.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership has the strongest environmental provisions of any previous U.S. free trade agreement, the centrist think tank Third Way said in a brief (here), agreeing with an opinion expressed several times by members of the Obama Administration and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Among other things, the agreement will require all parties to further implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and outlines responsibility to prevent illegal trade in wild fauna and flora, Third Way said.
CBP, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies would be affected by the International Maritime Organization Facilitation Committee's recently adopted amendment that would require electronic exchange of the pre-arrival and departure information (see 1604150039), said the Coast Guard on its blog (here). Expected to become effective in 2018, the amendment is meant "to reduce the administrative burden on ships’s crews, owners, operators, agents and other parties who submit information for clearance," it said.