On April 7, 2010, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano unveiled DHS' Open Government plan - leveraging public input to enhance transparency, public participation and collaboration as part of the Obama administration's Open Government Initiative. (Press release, dated 04/07/10, available at http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1270662888919.shtm)
World Trade Organization Director-General Lamy stated in a recent speech that failure on the Doha Round would spill over into other present and future cooperation efforts, and not only in the trade policy domain. He added that countries simply cannot go their own way and disregard the costs of neglecting international cooperation. (Speech, dated 03/18/10, available at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/sppl_e/sppl150_e.htm)
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)
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 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.
"Daily Update on Capitol Hill Trade Actions" is a daily International Trade Today compilation of the most relevant legislation, hearings, and actions by Congress involving international trade. The following are brief summaries of recent Capitol Hill actions:
The Justice Department reports that a Long Island customs broker has been sentenced in federal court on charges that he defrauded a Massachusetts medical equipment distributor out of over $1 million dollars.
On February 12, 2010, the Justice Department announced the formation of a new Task Force on Intellectual Property as part of a Department-wide initiative to confront the growing number of domestic and international intellectual property crimes.
The Commerce Secretary released data for January 2010 indicating that retail sales increased 0.5 percent from December, exceeding the 0.3 percent increase expected by the private sector. Retail sales rose 7.6 percent at an annual rate in the fourth quarter, following a gain of 6.4 percent in the third quarter. (Press release, dated 02/12/10, available at http://www.commerce.gov/NewsRoom/PressReleases_FactSheets/PROD01_008908)
The Department of Energy is requesting information from stakeholders on questions pertaining to the Buy American provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. DOE is requesting information regarding (1) the availability of manufactured goods produced in the U.S. that are needed to carry out certain projects; and (2) the application and implementation of certain Buy American provisions in Recovery Act projects. Comments are due by 11:59 p.m. on February 18, 2010. (FR Pub 02/04/10, available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-2378.pdf)