The House and Senate have both passed the conference version of H.R. 2419, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill), by greater than two-thirds majorities.
On April 25 2008, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its 2008 "Special 301" annual report on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection by U.S. trading partners.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a notice announcing that it will hold a public hearing on antimicrobial resistance on April 28, 2008 in Rockville, MD.
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative has released its 2008 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), which is an annual report documenting foreign trade and investment barriers and U.S. actions to reduce and eliminate those barriers.
The International Trade Commission has issued a limited exclusion order on court-ordered remand with respect to five patents against the infringing products of Dominant Semiconductors Sdn. Bhd. in its section 337 patent-based investigation of certain light-emitting diodes and products containing same.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective February 19, 2008, which amends 9 CFR Parts 93, 94, and 95 to remove several unnecessary restrictions regarding the identification of animals and the processing of ruminant materials from regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, aka mad cow disease) into the U.S. (Currently only Canada qualifies.)
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice requesting comments by 10 a.m. on February 11, 2008 regarding whether any foreign countries should be identified under Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974 (Trade Act) (19 USC 2242), which is commonly referred to as the "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a final rule, effective August 17, 2007, that amends 7 CFR Parts 305, 319, and 352 by revising, reorganizing, and making substantive changes to the regulations pertaining to the prevention of pests in imported fresh fruits and vegetables.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Revenue Division Bond Team (Bond Team) has posted to its Web site its November 19, 2007 version of its Current Issues which has been updated to add a section on the withdrawal of continuous bond submissions.
Port Security News reports that in test cases at the Los Angeles and Chicago international airports, Transportation Security Administration screeners failed 75% and 60% of the time, respectively, to find fake small bomb parts (some the size of pen caps) that were smuggled onboard airplanes. However, in San Francisco, where screeners work for a private company, the failure rate was 20%. (Port Security News, dated 10/22/07, available at http://portsecuritynews.com/news/templates/registered.asp?articleid=1790&zoneid=1)