The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 3:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 2:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for March 1:
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) is asking for public comment about a request by the Moroccan government for the U.S. to reconsider certain apparel rules of origin under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, to address availability of supply of 100-percent viscose woven fabric in both countries, CITA said (here). The U.S. received the request on Jan. 27 from the Government of Morocco on behalf of HTL Fashion to start bilateral consultation on rules of origin. Specifically, CITA is seeking information about whether 100-percent viscose woven fabric of U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule Subheading 5408.24 can be expeditiously supplied by the U.S. domestic industry in commercial quantities, CITA said. Comments must be submitted by March 31 to the CITA Chairman, Room 3001, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230, or to OTEXA_moroccoFTA@trade.gov.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is issuing a final rule that will continue the bureau’s reporting requirement for offset agreements associated with sales of items controlled on the United States Munitions List (USML) and items belonging to the “600 series” of export control classification numbers on the Commerce Control List, BIS said (here). Certain submersible and semi-submersible cargo transport vessels and related items not on the control lists of any U.S.-member multilateral export control regime will not be subject to the rule. BIS opened the public comment period for the rule extension on Dec. 2, and comments were due on Feb. 1 (see 1512010018). Reporting to BIS of offset agreements – compensation to the purchaser as a condition of sales of defense articles, including coproduction, technology transfer, subcontracting, credit assistance, training, licensed production, investment, and other purchases – has been required since the 1990s for exports of articles listed on the U.S. Munitions List. This rule will continue the same reporting requirements, BIS said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should modify a proposed rule that would “significantly” alter the factors that BIS considers when setting penalties in various enforcement cases, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in comments to the agency (here). The group said the rule (see 1512240003) could harm forwarders, NVOCCs, and exporters that might have -- “inadvertently or not” -- violated the Export Administration Regulations. The proposed changes are meant to make administrative penalties more predictable and better aligned with those used by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, BIS said in December (here). NCBFAA said it appreciates BIS’ effort to mesh its penalty enforcement guidelines with OFAC’s, but argues that, if enacted, the rule could birth an “unduly rigid enforcement mechanism.” The organization asserts the proposed process appears to be less flexible than the current one, and it believes the rule will likely prompt more enforcement cases and boost penalty amounts.
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Feb. 29 will enact a final rule making routine updates to the Code of Federal Regulations legal authority citations in the National Security Industrial Base Regulations (NSBIR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), BIS said (here). The changes will reflect recent editorial reclassifications in the United States Code, the removal of certain statutory authorities, continuation of an emergency declared through executive order, and minor stylistic edits, BIS said. The bureau is not accepting public comments, as it legally found “good cause” to waive prior notice and public comment requirements, in large part because the revisions “are not substantive,” BIS said.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Feb. 24:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Feb. 23:
The new policy allowing for case-by-case exports and re-exports for Cuban state-owned enterprises is among the most significant of changes to trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba, said Tony Christino, Bureau of Industry and Security Foreign Policy Division Director, on Feb. 23 during a conference call focusing on the ongoing rollback. “In order to meet the needs of the Cuban people, we couldn’t ignore the state sector,” Christino said. Effective Jan. 27, the latest sanction rollbacks involved the lifting of certain payment and financing restrictions for approved exports and re-exports of non-agricultural items to Cuba, and the authorization of the use of leasing arrangements, code-sharing, and blocked airspace by Cuban airlines to facilitate U.S. travel to the country. Christino added that the Cuban government has shown interest in opening up poultry, fruit and vegetable trade with the U.S. News of the rule sparked a mixed reaction from Senate Republicans, with Jeff Flake, Ariz., urging the Obama Administration to adopt legislation that would more permanently ease travel of U.S. citizens to Cuba (here), and presidential candidate Marco Rubio, Fla., speaking out against the regulation (see 1601270004).