(Read Footnotes and Disclaimers at End of Notice)

(Read Footnotes and Disclaimers at End of Notice)

In December 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it would soon issue several additional measures intended to further strengthen protections against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued additional instructions on the Special Bill programming (new non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) and Master vessel operating common carrier (VOCC) bill types) for Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) which was moved into the production environment (i.e., implemented) during the normally scheduled system outage of 11:00 p.m. EST Saturday, January 10, 2004 to 3:00 a.m. Sunday, January 11, 2004.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a notice extending the comment period for a proposed rule that would amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in 15 CFR Parts 740, 742, 748, 754, and 772 to implement a revised version of its Simplified Network Application Processing (SNAP) system, called SNAP, and to mandate use of SNAP for most filings and related documents.

The Treasury Department has published its current list of countries that may require participation in, or cooperation with, an international boycott. The countries included on this list are:

The International Trade Administration (ITA) frequently issues notices on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders which Broker Power considers to be "minor" in importance as they concern actions that occur after an order is issued and neither announce nor cause any changes to an order's duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective period.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice announcing that the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for dairy products, provided for in HTS Chapter 4, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 10, which opened on January 2, 2004, partially oversubscribed at the opening. According to CBP, the All Other Countries limit oversubscribed and the minimum access quantity for Belgium/Denmark (aggregated) was exceeded. However, the minimum access quantity for Australia was not reached and is therefore still available.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a press release announcing education and enforcement plans for its new trucking hours-of-service rule. According to the press release, starting January 4, 2004, when the rule was implemented, state and federal officials expect to spend the first 60 days waging an aggressive educational campaign and enforcing egregious violations. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/04/03 news, 03120410, for BP reminder on the enforcement of the hours-of-service rule, with links to previous BP summaries.) (FMCSA press release, dated 12/30/03, www.fmcsa.dot.gov/contactus/press/2003/123003.htm.)

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has issued two notices announcing that it has commenced two reviews to provide advice to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding two separate petitions filed under the "commercial availability" provisions of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) on certain shirting fabrics. According to the ITC, it will submit its advice to USTR in a classified report by January 29, 2004, and issue a public version soon thereafter. Written comments due to the ITC by January 14, 2003. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/30/03 news, 03123025, for BP summary of the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreement's (CITA's) related notice.) (ITC notices, dated 01/05/04, available at http://www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/332_450_010nl.pdf and http://www.usitc.gov/332s/shortsup/332_450_011nl.pdf)