The State Department has issued a notice announcing that on February 4, 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to "Serbia and Montenegro."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has posted to its Web site the draft text of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is dated January 28, 2004.

On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed into law (Public Law (P.L.) 108-199) the conference version of the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), entitled the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004." P.L. 108-199 includes eight separate appropriations measures, including the 2004 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act), which provides, among other things, FY 2004 appropriations for the Commerce Department.

In U.S. v. Inn Foods, Inc., the Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled that litigation filed by the U.S. on December 14, 2001 to collect Customs duties and fees from Inn Foods for violations of 19 USC 1592 regarding produce imported from Mexico was untimely by one day.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it is postponing until no later than April 19, 2004 (from February 14, 2004) the preliminary countervailing (CV) duty determination on carbazole violet pigment 23.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the European Union (EU) is poised to impose trade sanctions on billions of dollars of U.S. goods starting in March 2004, as congressional leaders signaled their inability to reach agreement on repeal of the U.S. Foreign Sales Corp./Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act (FSC/ETI) tax regime. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled this tax deduction illegal and given the EU permission to impose as much as $4 billion in sanctions a year. According to an EU official, if the law isn't repealed, the EU is certain to retaliate starting March 1, 2004. (WSJ Pub, 01/26/04, www.wallstreetjournal.com)

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report entitled, International Trade: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Faces Challenges in Addressing Illegal Textile Transshipment in response to requests from the Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued two notices requesting public comments by February 17, 2004 regarding "commercial availability" requests it received, variously, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), and the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) from Levi Strauss and Co.:

On December 5, 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule which amended the Customs Regulations to provide that CBP receive, by way of a CBP-approved electronic data interchange system, information pertaining to cargo before the cargo is either brought into or sent from the U.S. by any mode of commercial transportation (sea, air, rail, or truck).