Thirty-four members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested both sides of chamber leadership to immediately initiate floor consideration of a measure that would prevent inspections of Siluriformes fish and related products from transferring from the Food and Drug Administration to the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, set for completion Sept. 1, 2017. Led by the top Republican and Democrat of the full committee and the Health Subcommittee, members sent the letter on June 22 (here). “There is no justifiable reason for USDA to oversee catfish, while FDA regulates all other seafood,” the lawmakers said. “This leaves American seafood companies in the untenable and illogical position of accommodating two sets of federal inspectors overseeing the same facility: one set of inspectors for catfish and another for all other seafood.” Committee members sent the letter to Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md. The House adjourned for recess on June 23 and are scheduled to return July 5.
Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., reintroduced legislation that would require Congressional approval of U.S. “market” and “non-market” determinations of China’s economy for antidumping duty purposes, Franken’s office said (here). For the U.S., the authority to designate China as a market economy, which could result in lower and more consist AD duty rates for Chinese products (see 1602290025) currently lies with the executive branch. Franken, who introduced similar legislation in April, S. 2906, sought to include the measure within a funding bill being considered. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., also introduced aligning House legislation in April (see 1604150048). More than a dozen senators recently wrote to the EU Commission urging the body not to grant China market economy status, and U.S. manufacturers also formed a coalition to advocate against the U.S. granting the designation (see 1603160033).
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bill:
The Obama administration is working with the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees to draft Trans-Pacific Partnership implementation legislation, for a potential vote during the upcoming “lame-duck” session of Congress in November and December, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said during a June 20 panel (here). “I think [Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell of the Senate has made clear publicly that he doesn’t want to see a vote before the election,” Froman said. “But to even do this in the lame duck, you want to do as much of the preparatory work as possible under trade promotion authority beforehand, and that’s what we’re working on now.” Despite the recently tepid overall political support for TPP and free trade, Froman said there’s “a lot of desire to get it done,” pointing both to a “whole-of-Cabinet” effort to push its merits, as well as to the upcoming “lame-duck” session as a “window of opportunity” for U.S. ratification of the deal. The congressional committees and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not comment.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on June 16 approved its version of the Financial Services and General Government spending bill for fiscal 2017, which includes the Consumer Product Safety Commission (here). The funding bill includes $124 million to fund CPSC -- $7 million less than the White House request and $1 million less than the fiscal 2016 level -- in fiscal 2017. The bill conditions the funding on the completion of a vehicle safety study. During the June 16 full committee markup, senators notably adopted two amendments that would liberalize U.S. commerce with Cuba. One amendment (here), adopted 22-8, would allow U.S. nationals to finance agricultural commodity sales to the country, and would repeal the requirement for vessels entering a Cuban port to obtain a license from the Treasury secretary within 180 days in order to unload freight at any place in the U.S. Another amendment adopted by voice vote (here) would bar the use of funds appropriated through the bill to restrict exports of U.S. consumer communication devices or telecommunication services to Cuba.
Lawmakers recently introduced the following trade-related bills:
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on June 15 requested information about the recent spike in fentanyl overdoses and deaths in certain parts of the U.S. from Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, and suggested that DEA release facts about illicit fentanyl akin to the agency’s 2015 release of its unclassified National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary, he said in a letter (here). Wyden noted that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have connected this surge with the greater availability of illicit fentanyl, which is produced overseas. “I encourage your agency to consider developing such a publication that examines the different facets of the illicit fentanyl trade, and its dangers,” Wyden said in the letter. “If such a document already exists, please provide it to me. Please also work with my office to ensure that such a document is widely disseminated to the public.” Wyden in May asked CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske to provide fentanyl seizure data for fiscal 2016 (see 1605230055).
The House Natural Resources Committee on June 15 approved a bill “to exempt importation and exportation of sea urchins and sea cucumbers from licensing requirements under the Endangered Species Act of 1973,” the bill’s sponsor Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said (here). The legislation would eradicate routine mandatory U.S. export and import inspections of the highly perishable organisms. “This common sense change to the regulations is going to make it a lot easier for Maine urchin dealers to get their product to market," Pingree said. Inspections would restart in any area where urchins or cucumbers are found to be illegally trafficked in the U.S. The bill now awaits floor consideration.
The Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee on June 15 favorably reported out the nomination of Federal Maritime Commissioner Rebecca Dye to serve a third full term on the commission, the committee said (here). Her nomination now awaits consideration by the full Senate.
The fiscal 2017 Senate Financial Services and General Government spending bill would fund the Consumer Product Safety Commission at $124 million, $7 million less than President Barack Obama’s budget request and $1 million less than current enacted level, the Senate Appropriations Committee Minority said (here). The Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee unanimously approved the bill with no amendments on June 15. The spending bill does not include a White House-requested authorization for consumer product import fees to be paid by importers to support expansion of CPSC’s import surveillance activities. The legislation also omits requested funding to conduct applied research on exposure to “potential chronic hazards” related to nanotechnology in consumer products and “crumb rubber” used in field turf and playgrounds. The House Appropriations Committee on June 9 reported out its version of FY17 Financial Services and General Government spending legislation, which proposed to fund CPSC at $120 million, the committee said (here). The full Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the chamber's version of FY17 spending legislation at 10:30 a.m. on June 16.