The exemption to FCC Form 740 filing requirements for RF device imports (see 1607070061) is based on the actual import date and not the date-of-entry summary filing with Customs and Border Protection, said CBP in a notice. The FCC data must still be provided on the entry summary if the import date is before July 1, CBP said. That data isn't required for imports after July 1, it said. After July 23, CBP no longer will require FCC data filed electronically regardless of date of import, CBP said.

Visteon completed its acquisition of AllGo Embedded Systems, an India-based supplier of embedded multimedia and smartphone connectivity software for the auto industry, the buyer said in a Monday announcement. The deal “supports Visteon’s global vehicle cockpit electronics business and enables Visteon to offer a highly integrated solution to automakers that includes multimedia software and codecs, and smartphone connectivity features,” Visteon said.

Europe plans to launch large-scale testing of connected car and autonomous vehicle technologies next year, including use of various high-speed wireless networks, several major trade associations said Thursday in a news release. The initiative was outlined in a EU-hosted meeting in Brussels Wednesday, said the groups, including the European Association of Automotive Suppliers, European Automobile Manufacturers Association, European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association, European Competitive Telecommunications Association and GSMA. The initiative will test functionalities, including cooperative collision avoidance, high density platooning, local-hazard warnings, remote control parking and traffic flow optimization across several EU countries, the release said. The testing will be in two phases, with the first, from 2017 to 2019, using 4G technology, and the second, running until 2021, using both 4G and 5G technologies, it said. The groups said cybersecurity, network latency, personal data protection, safety and service quality will be prioritized and addressed. A consortium of European telecom and automotive companies, which will be established later this year, will define the project's scope and negotiate potential co-financing with the EU and member states, the release said. "Trials will focus on addressing cross-border challenges such as the lack of harmonised spectrum, seamless network handover of vehicles at borders and open road infrastructure data," it said. "The trials will build on existing national projects and use their infrastructure where possible."

The FCC issued guidance on the July 1 suspension of Form 740 filing requirements. The agency temporarily waived the Form 740 requirements until the end of the year for imported RF devices due to the transition to automated commercial environment for customs. "This suspension only eliminates the filing requirements; all other requirements related to importation and to compliance with equipment authorization rules for radio frequency equipment continue to apply," the FCC said Wednesday.

Asia Pacific continued to lead global e-commerce in 2015, after taking over the top spot in 2013, said a Euromonitor report Tuesday. Mobile e-commerce sales for the region, comprising 14 economies, grew 113 percent to $200 billion, it said. The report cited increasing demand for convenience in Asia, driven by urbanization, smaller households and an “on-demand culture.” Overall retail sales for the top 500 retailers in the region slipped 5 percent in 2015 to $964 billion, due to the strong U.S. dollar, Euromonitor said.

The Article 31 Committee of representatives from EU member states plans a Friday vote on Privacy Shield, said a European Commission summary of a committee meeting last week. In the brief summary, the EC said "various improvements" during negotiations the week before with the U.S. (see 1606270055) to the proposed trans-Atlantic data transfer deal were explained to committee members. Several members wanted more time to study the changes before voting Friday, the summary said. Bruno Gencarelli, head of EU Data Protection Unit, told attendees Tuesday at an international privacy conference in the U.K. that the proposed trans-Atlantic data transfer deal would be voted on "this week, and, following a positive vote, the [European] Commission would subsequently be able to adopt an adequacy decision for EU-US data transfers next week," according to a summary of his talk provided by the conference. He said the changes to Privacy Shield include strong data retention and transfer rules, plus government access to the data. "We are moving from self-certification to a much more controlled framework," said Gencarelli. Several other European entities criticized Privacy Shield as providing inadequate protection for Europeans' personal data from U.S. government access and inadequate redress options (see 1605310017). Experts expect a court challenge to the agreement if the EC approves it.

An International Trade Commission order bans import of some Arista network devices, including routers and switches, that allegedly infringe patents held by Cisco, the ITC said in Wednesday's Federal Register. The commission set no bond while the U.S. Trade Representative conducts its 60-day review on whether to issue a veto of the Tariff Act Section 337 import ban. The ITC issued a limited exclusion order against Arista and ended its investigation into the company. Arista disagrees with the ITC "that we infringe these patents or that they are valid" but respects the order and will "fully comply," CEO Jayshree Ullal wrote customers last week, in a communication provided to us Thursday by an outside company spokesman. "We intend to fully adhere to all ITC legal requirements and all products that are manufactured" in the U.S. will have "design-around versions" of the company's extensible operating system, Ullal wrote. "All international customers are unaffected by ITC orders. Our primary focus is the continued supply and service of non-infringing products."

The Electronic Components Industry Association and other trade groups stopped an industry recommendation from going forward for a Customs and Border Protection pilot program to test a new approach to gray market imports, said the ECIA in a Sunday news release. It said the ECIA, Semiconductor Industry Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed the recommendation during a recent Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group session. Gray market products are imported goods that were intended for sale outside the U.S. The proposed "Known Importer Program" for gray market products "would have established a known importer status for unauthorized sellers to bypass detention and inspection of shipments at the borders," said the ECIA. "The proposal called for trade associations to administer the program by designating which of its members met the program’s criteria for a known importer. The proposal, if it had been adopted, would have set up a pilot program to test the concept for importers of electronic components." The COAC is made up of industry members that make recommendations to CBP, which ultimately decides whether a COAC-endorsed initiative will be taken up. CBP and a co-chair of the COAC Trade Enforcement and Revenue Collection Subcommittee, which the IPR Working Group is part of, didn't comment Tuesday. "This proposal would have seriously impaired the integrity of the authorized distribution channel for electronic components," said Robin Gray, ECIA general counsel. "Our zealous opposition to the proposal was clearly a determining factor in the [IPR working group's] decision not to recommend the program."

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to new markets for e-commerce and improved customs processing, said Brian Huseman, Amazon vice president-public policy, in a blog post. "That's why we support the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and encourage Congress to approve it," he said. "The agreement makes important progress on areas such as business localization, cross-border data flows, intermediary liability and customs simplification." As Amazon grows, "we want reasonable policies that allow for the movement of goods across borders and that enable anyone in the world to have access to a unique and vast selection," he said. "We also want policies that do not unduly limit the growth of cloud computing by erecting digital trade barriers." But TPP is imperfect and the administration and Congress should work to improve provisions on cross-border data flows and copyright, Huseman said Thursday.

Qualcomm said it’s supporting the European Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System across its product portfolios. The company began implementing hardware support for Galileo several years ago in select chipsets, and now offers what it called the industry's first “pervasive,” end-to-end location-services platform for smartphone, computing, infotainment, telematics and IoT applications. The Qualcomm IZat location services platform uses up to six satellite constellations concurrently without incremental device hardware or cost, and users benefit from more than 80 different satellites when calculating global position for navigation or location-based applications, Qualcomm said Tuesday.