The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements determined that certain three-layered composite fabric is not available in commercial quantities in Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement countries, and is adding the fabric to the CAFTA-DR to the list at Annex 3.25 of the agreement in unrestricted quantities. This fabric may now be sourced from outside CAFTA-DR countries for use in CAFTA-DR qualifying textile and apparel products. VF Corp. asked for the commercial availability determination, and no interested parties responded to the request. Specifications for the fabric are as follows:
The International Trade Administration set a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness for March 12 in Washington, D.C. The meeting will be open to the public. The committee will discuss organizational and administrative issues including ethics and privacy requirements, and select a chairperson for the committee. The Committee will also consider current issues impacting the U.S. supply chain, which include trade and competitiveness, freight movement and policy, information technology and data requirements, regulatory issues, and finance and infrastructure. A full agenda will be here. Comments for consideration at the meeting are due by March 5.
Rebecca Blank’s title is now “Deputy Secretary of Commerce” instead of acting secretary, although she “continues to perform the duties of Secretary,” according to her biography on the Commerce Department website. Blank had held the title of acting secretary since former Secretary John Bryson’s resignation in June 2012. The Vacancies Reform Act only allows unappointed officials to hold “acting” status for 210 days, with some exceptions, although Commerce declined to say if the title change was related to the law. David Aguilar of CBP went from acting commissioner to deputy commissioner in August because of the Vacancies Reform Act time limit (see ITT’s Online Archives 12091219 for summary).
The International Trade Administration is asking U.S. vendors capable of exporting goods or services relevant to the Next Generation Air Transportation System and that are interested in participating in the NextGen Solutions Vendors Guide to identify themselves by March 29. The NextGen system meets the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Aviation System Block Upgrade (ASBU) initiative, the ITA said, and addresses the ICAO ASBU-designated performance improvement areas of: (a) airport operations, (b) globally interoperable systems and data, (c) optimum capacity and flexible flights, and (d) efficient flight paths. The NextGen guide will highlight the U.S. producers and suppliers who indicate that they have products that can be used to implement one or more NextGen solutions.