On May 5, 2004, the House Ways and Means Committee amended and ordered reported (i.e., approved) H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004. (This bill is often referred to as "AGOA III.")

The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has issued a proposed rule which would adjust the regulations governing the trade of tuna and tuna-like species in the North and South Atlantic Ocean to implement recommendations adopted at the 2002 and 2003 meetings of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT).

On May 5, 2004, the House Ways and Means Committee amended and ordered reported (i.e., approved) H.R. 4103, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Acceleration Act of 2004. (This bill is often referred to as "AGOA III.")

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued two notices to the wildlife import/export community announcing that the U.S. has suspended certain trade of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) species with ten countries.

The Department of Transportation's (DOT's) Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) has issued a proposed rule that would amend the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) with regard to cylinders of compressed oxygen and packages of chemical oxygen generators.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective May 4, 2004, which amends the Commerce Control List (CCL)¹ to reflect changes to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Annex agreed to at the September 2003 Plenary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective May 4, 2004, which amends 15 CFR Part 774 to correct the description of certain precursor chemicals on the Commerce Control List (CCL) to make it consistent with the list of "Schedule 2" chemicals under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has published in the Federal Register the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) binational panel's decision, issued April 19, 2004, in its review of the final results of the affirmative antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) threat of injury re-determination on remand made by the International Trade Commission (ITC) with respect to certain softwood lumber products from Canada (Secretariat File No. USA-CDA-2002-1904-07).

In the May 5, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 19), CBP issued notices: (a) revoking two classification rulings on certain metal couplings and connectors; and (b) revoking a classification ruling regarding plastic identification badges. CBP states that it is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.

American Shipper has reported that the European Union was poised to implement the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) solid wood packing material (SWPM) standard in the spring of 2004. However, it has now dropped this initiative due to the admittance of 10 new member countries from Eastern Europe. American Shipper states that a new implementation date has yet to be set. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has also posted an update to its Web site stating that Australia has proposed draft requirements for imported SWPM that are to become effective July 1, 2004. See APHIS' SWPM Web page for more information http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/swp/industry/index.html. (American Shipper Pub May 2004 www.americanshipper.com)