The Journal of Commerce Online (JoC Online) reports that the President of Brazil has proposed a free trade agreement (FTA) between China and the Mercosur trade bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay) aimed at lessening dependence on trade with the U.S. The Brazilian President also proposed expanding commerce between Mercosur, China, India, and African countries. (JoC Online Pub 05/25/04, www.joc.com)

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice requesting public comments by June 28, 2004 on a petition it received from Procter & Gamble requesting a modification of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules of origin, which are set out in Annex 401 to the NAFTA, for sanitary articles made from certain tri-lobal rayon staple fiber.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) Office of Automated Commercial Systems (ACS) has posted a notice to its Web site containing (a) a list, current as of May 27, 2004, of companies/persons offering Air Automated Manifest System (AMS) communication and data processing services to the trade community, and (b) the Air AMS Respondent Checklist, as follows:

The Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) has issued a notice stating that it is delaying the effective date of its October 30, 2003 final rule which clarifies the applicability of the Hazardous Materials (hazmat) Regulations (HMR) to loading, unloading, and storage operations of hazmats during transportation.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on May 28, 2004, the U.S., Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua signed the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

(a) ACA, HoneyMax, and TransHoney each have an AD cash deposit rate of zero; however, suspension of liquidation will continue

The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the following vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs) have become Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) operational:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message announcing that on May 17, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the writs of certiorari filed by Thomson Inc. and CF Industries, in which they asked the court to review decisions by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) which upheld the harbor maintenance fee (HMF) on waterborne imports and waterborne domestic unloadings.

Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. The following have been issued since BP's most recent update: