VF Corporation filed a request on Nov. 18 with the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles and Apparel to add a fabric to the short supply list under the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (here). The company says it cannot find in commercial quantities a composite fabric consisting of three layers, with a woven face and knit fleece backing, bonded with an air, wind and water-proof polyurethane (PU) membrane. The fabric is classifiable under HTS subheading 6001.22, it said.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Nov. 21:
The Commerce Department on Nov. 19 announced two new trade promotion missions to sub-Saharan Africa and Colombia. In April 2015, Commerce will lead a trade mission to Colombia for the automotive industry (here). Then, In September 2015, Commerce will take a trade mission to Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania that will include a trip to the Trade Winds sub-Saharan Africa business forum in Johannesburg (here). Commerce also announced it is extending the deadline until Nov. 21 for companies to apply for the trade mission to India for the ports and marine technology industries (here).
The County of Erie has submitted an application to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to reorganize the Buffalo-area FTZ 23 under the Alternative Site Framework, said the FTZ Board in a Federal Register notice (here). Under the reorganization, the service area would cover Erie County, New York. The Alternative Site Framework streamlines processes for designation of new FTZ subzones and usage driven sites within the service area by allowing companies to request zone status through the relatively simple "minor boundary modification" process. Comments on the application are due by Jan. 20.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Nov. 19:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Nov. 18:
The Bureau of Industry and Security is asking for industry comments on the impact of chemical weapons regulations, drawn from the Chemical Weapons Convention, on commercial sale and purchase of certain chemicals in 2014 (here). The U.S. is one of 175 countries that are party to the convention (here). The BIS request focuses on commercial sale of “Schedule 1” items, which are chemicals considered a high risk in relation to the convention’s goal of eliminating chemical weapons. The Export Administration Regulations scale back the use and sale of these chemicals. BIS will allow industry stakeholders to comment through Dec. 19. BIS encourages stakeholders to submit comments to willard.fisher@bis.doc.gov.
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Nov. 14:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Nov. 13:
The Commerce Department slapped a ten-year ban on export privileges for Mohammad Hakin Hashemi for exporting aircraft parts from the U.S. to Iran without a go ahead from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (here). The ban takes effect retroactively on Dec. 16, 2013, the date of Hashemi’s conviction in a California district court. Commerce revoked all licenses granted to Hashemi at the time of his conviction. Hashemi is also barred from any involvement in U.S. export activity. BIS said Hashemi's last known address is in London.