Brian Feito

On February 23, 2012, the President sent a letter to Congress announcing that the national emergency declared with respect to Cuba and the emergency authority relating to the regulation of the anchorage and movement of vessels set out in Proclamation 6867 as amended by Proclamation 7757, is to continue in effect beyond March 1, 2012.

The International Trade Administration has initiated an administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping or countervailing duty orders with January anniversary dates. The ITA intends to issue the final results of these reviews not later than January 31, 2013.

On February 23, 2012, the President sent a letter to Congress announcing that the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13566 of February 25, 2011 with respect to Libya is to continue in effect for one year.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued General License No. 5a under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (31 CFR 544), Iranian Transactions Regulations (31 CFR 560), and Executive Order 13599 on "Blocking Property of the Government of Iran and Iranian Financial Institutions," to authorize certain transactions related to the arrest in Mundra, India, detention, and judicial sale of the MV Dianthe, a vessel on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list. Such transactions include, but are not limited to: (i) bidding on the purchase of the vessels; (ii) paying deposits; (iii) providing financing, insurance, or funding in connection with the purchase; (iv) repairing or modifying the Vessel for commercial use; etc. This authorization expires on November 30, 2012.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective February 27, 2012, amending the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations (IFSR) and reissuing them in their entirety, in order to, among other things, implement section 1245(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012 (NDAA), which provides for the imposition of sanctions with respect to the Central Bank of Iran and designated Iranian financial institutions.

The International Trade Commission has rescheduled the public hearing in its investigation of trade in remanufactured goods (332-525). The hearing will now begin at 9:00 am on February 28, 2012 at the ITC building.

The Small Business Administration published a final rule, effective March 26, 2012, increasing the small business size receipts-based standards for 22 industries in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Sector 48-49, Transportation and Warehousing, while retaining the current standards for the remaining 37 industries in that sector. The final rule is part of SBA’s ongoing comprehensive review of all size standards required by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, Executive Order 13563, and an internal review process started by SBA in 2007. SBA did not review the employee-based standards for industries in NAICS Sector 48-49, but will do so at a later date with other employee-based size standards.

The Bureau of Industry and Security states that it has renewed for 180 days its Temporary Denial Order against Mahan Airways of Iran, Zarand Aviation, Gatewick LLC, Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Mahmoud Amini, Kerman Aviation, Sirjanco Trading, Ali Eslamian, and related parties.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) traveled to Russia during February 17-21, 2012 to meet with senior government officials and discuss economic, trade, and foreign affairs issues, including Russia’s impending WTO accession, and to pursue new trade opportunities for U.S. businesses, ranchers and farmers. According to his office, Baucus, along with his fellow trade leaders in Congress, has insisted on holding Russia to a high standard through the WTO accession process to guarantee that American ranchers, farmers, workers, and businesses benefit. WTO members formally invited Russia to join the WTO in December 2011.

The Food and Drug Administration has stated that it is not aware of any brand of infant formula containing organic brown rice syrup (OBRS), although one brand of toddler formula uses OBRS as a sweetener. The label for this product, however, states that it is for use in children older than 12 months, and also warns that a health care professional should be consulted before using it for infants under 12 months of age. FDA's statement was made due to concerns of trace amounts of arsenic in foods. In response to these concerns, FDA has expanded its surveillance activities in rice. FDA began a further study of arsenic in rice and rice products in October 2011 to determine the level and types of arsenic typically found in these products. According to the FDA, the study is scheduled to be complete in Spring 2012.