On April 21, 2004, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in ensuring the quality, safety, and proper labeling of certain consumer products.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a notice, effective April 23, 2004, announcing that it has updated its Unverified List by removing one Chinese entity.
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 has been issued since BP's most recent update:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the following carriers have become Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) operational:
Washington Trade Daily reports that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently decided to cancel the next round of technical level talks on steel subsidies and to delay a meeting of senior officials that had been scheduled for early May 2004. According to the article, a U.S. trade official stated that the multilateral talks on curbing government subsidies to the steel sectors and global overcapacity have hit a stalemate, and may need to be moved to another forum to find an agreement. (WTD dated 04/21/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has issued a notice on certain changes which take effect on May 15, 2004 regarding the import and export of seahorses and other tropical fish.
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
On April 21, 2004, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) published a notice denying a petition submitted by Oxford Industries, Inc., which had alleged that certain 100% cotton woven flannel fabrics, made from 21 through 36 NM single ring-spun yarns of different colors, classified in HTS 5208.43.00, of 2 X 1 twill weave construction, weighing not more than 200 grams per square meter, for use in apparel articles1, could not be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner.
On April 1, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a first set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and responses regarding the mandatory advance electronic information requirements for inbound air cargo.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued two notices on behalf of the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) which announce that the USTR and the Department of Labor (DOL) are initiating a review of the impacts of the proposed U.S.-Thailand and U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on U.S. employment, including labor markets.