The Consumer Product Safety Commission has changed the time of its March 31, 2010 open meeting in which it will vote on the proposed rule on the definition of children's products under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. The meeting will now begin at 4:00 pm instead of 9:00 am. (CPSC notice dated 03/31/10, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/calendarmast.html)
According to the World Trade Organization, global trade is set to rebound in 2010 by growing at 9.5%. Exports from developed economies are expected to increase by 7.5%, while shipments from the rest of the world should rise by around 11%. This strong expansion will help recover some but not all of the ground lost in 2009 when global trade contracted 12.2%. (Press release, dated 03/26/10, available at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres10_e/pr598_e.htm)
The U.S. Trade Representative's Trade Policy Staff Committee requests comments on what should be included in the scope of the environmental review of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement for the U.S., as well as potential complementarities between trade and environmental objectives, appropriate methodologies, etc. Comments are due by June 1, 2010. (FR Pub 03/25/10, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-6653.pdf)
On March 23, 2010, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano joined with Mexican Interior Secretary Gmez-Mont to sign two arrangements to bolster aviation and border security between the United States and Mexico at the Mrida U.S.-Mexico High Level Consultative Group meeting-further expanding ongoing cooperative efforts to crack down on violent drug cartels and combat terrorism while facilitating the secure and efficient flow of legitimate travel and trade. (Press release, dated 03/23/10, available at http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1269400206038.shtm)
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico has posted Ambassador Pascual's remarks before the AmCham National Convention in which he suggested "extending" the U.S.-Mexico border to transit hubs throughout Mexico and the U.S., moving security and customs operations to these decentralized points, and creating multiple customs points in certain cities using pre-clearance, automation resources and GPS technology. (Remarks, posted 03/10/10, available at http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/Ambassador/A100310AmCham.html)
The Government Accountability Office has issued a report entitled, "Iran Sanctions: Complete and Timely Licensing Data Needed to Strengthen Enforcement of Export Restrictions."
On March 10, 2010, the Commissioners of the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted to approve, with several changes from the staff version, a final rule to replace its September 1, 2009 interim final rule on CPSC's interpretation of the statutory factors it considers in determining civil penalty amounts for "knowing" violations of the prohibited acts in the CPSA, FFA, and FHSA. (Webcast of 03/10/10 meeting available at http://www.cpsc.gov/webcast/previous.html)
The Transportation Security Administration has a February 19, 2010 list of freight forwarders authorized to maintain chain of custody of screened passenger aircraft cargo. (List, posted, 03/08/10, available at http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/cert_locations_c.pdf)
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has issued a final rule, effective March 8, 2010, amending the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations and the Iranian Transactions Regulations to provide a general license authorizing the exportation of certain services and software incident to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet.
The Commerce Department is releasing findings of an analytic report on the differences between the official trade statistics produced by the United States and China. This report was prepared cooperatively by analysts in the United States and China as part of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade Statistics Working Group (JCCT SWG). (Report, posted 03/5/10, available at http://www.esa.doc.gov/SWG03042010.cfm)