The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on March 1, 2004, the Bush Administration submitted to Congress the 2004 Trade Policy Agenda and 2003 Annual Report on the Trade Agreements Program.
On January 30, 2004, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued a report to Congressional requesters entitled Food Safety: FDA's Imported Seafood Safety Program Shows Some Progress, but Further Improvements are Needed.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued a notice announcing that, following receipt of a request from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), it has instituted an investigation under 19 USC 3804(f) regarding the potential economy wide and selected sectoral effects of the proposed U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release and fact sheet announcing that on March 15, 2004, the U.S. and the Dominican Republic concluded negotiations integrating the Dominican Republic into the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
On March 17, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a message from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the technical problems with FDA's OASIS, which had recently prevented the processing of entry submissions from ABI, including the return of Prior Notice (PN) confirmation numbers, has been resolved.
The Washington Trade Daily (WTD) reports that the AFL-CIO has filed a Section 301 petition with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) urging bilateral negotiations with China to correct what it believes are China's inadequate labor practices and laws. The AFL-CIO asserts that these practices and laws are tantamount to unfair trade practices. (WTD Pub 03/17/04, www.washingtontradedaily.com)
In the March 10, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 11), CBP issued notices (a) proposing to revoke a classification ruling on plastic identification badges, and (b) proposing to revoke a classification ruling regarding radar apparatus that measures liquid levels. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a notice announcing a "special import quota" which specifies a quota of 27,202,732 kg for upland cotton purchased not later than June 15, 2004 and entered under HTS 9903.52.10. The quota period is March 18, 2004 through September 13, 2004; opening day is March 18, 2004 at 12 noon, E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones.
At the March 3, 2004 Joint Industry Group Annual Meeting, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS') Border and Transportation (BTS) Director of Cargo and Trade Policy outlined its three goals for the next 12 months with regard to cargo security. Components of these goals include, among other things, identifying and filling in remaining gaps in security, possibly fully launching Smart Box, and developing a Threat and Vulnerability Process.