The State Department has issued a final rule, effective May 21, 2004, which revises various categories on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and other parts of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).

According to The Journal of Commerce Online, the National Industrial Transportation League has stated that ocean-borne cargo entering the U.S. will be delayed if a House-Senate conference requires the Coast Guard to approve all security plans for foreign-flag ships entering U.S. waters for the first time after July 1. (Ports and carriers have to have security plans approved by their flag states by July 1 under the International Maritime Organization's International Ship and Port Facility Security Code). The article states that House and Senate members are meeting to work out security rules as part of legislation to reauthorize the Coast Guard. (JoC Online, dated 05/19/04, www.joc.com )

ITA sources state that the final AD duty determination in this investigation is due no later than 75 days after May 13, 2004 (approximately July 27, 2004).

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:

The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its Major Shippers Textiles and Apparel Report, which contains selected general import statistics by date of import from the Census Bureau through March 31, 2004 by country and category (including merged and part category).

Customs failure to reliquidate entries does not constitute a 'mistake of fact.' In Fujitsu Compound Semiconductor, Inc. v. U.S., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the Court of International Trade's (CIT's) earlier determination that Customs' failure to reliquidate certain entries of laser diode modules on its own initiative does not constitute a mistake of fact correctable under 19 USC 1520(c).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a notice and press release announcing that it will hold three public meetings this summer to receive input from stakeholders on the modernization of its current good manufacturing practices (CGMP) for food.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) Office of Information and Technology has posted a notice to its Web site containing (a) a list, updated as of May 18, 2004, of companies/persons offering Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) data processing services to the trade community, and (b) the Sea AMS Respondent Checklist, as follows:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing that on May 21, 2004, CBP officers were to be deployed to the port of Tokyo, Japan as part of CBP's Container Security Initiative (CSI). CBP officers will be targeting sea containers destined for the U.S.