On November 25, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the establishment of the E-Commerce and Small Business Branch within the agency’s Office of Trade. Worldwide e-commerce sales are expected to reach over $4 trillion by 2020 – the branch will work to address the various complexities resulting from this new global shift.
On November 29, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. FDA-2016-N-1487] to establish requirements for the electronic filing of entries of FDA-regulated products in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) or any other electronic data interchange (EDI) system authorized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), in order for the filing to be processed by CBP and to help FDA in determining admissibility of that product by increasing the opportunity for automated review by FDA’s Operational and Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS).
On November 22, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. DHS–2009–0036] that amends the DHS regulations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The regulations have been revised to update and streamline the language of several procedural provisions, and to incorporate changes brought about by the amendments to the FOIA under the OPEN Government Act of 2007.
On 21 November 2016, the WTO announced that Chile and Swaziland have ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), making them the 97th and 98th WTO members to do so. Their submission of the instruments of acceptance to the WTO on 21 November means that nearly 90 per cent of the ratifications needed to bring the TFA into force have now been received. The TFA will enter into force once two-thirds of the WTO membership has formally accepted the Agreement.Â
On November 14, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published in the Federal Register a notice [Docket No. FDA-2011-N-0144] announcing the availability of a guidance for industry entitled “FDA’s Voluntary Qualified Importer Program.” The guidance describes the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), which provides for expedited review and importation of food offered for importation by importers who voluntarily agree to participate in the program.
On November 18, 2016, the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) published in the Federal Register a final rule that makes amendments to the final rule, with request for comments, published in the Federal Register on March 9, 2015, that established regulations for the Pima Agriculture Cotton Trust Fund (Agriculture Pima Trust) and the Agriculture Wool Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund (Agriculture Wool Trust) programs.
On 15 November 2016, the New Zealand parliament passed by a 61-57 vote, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Amendment Bill, which is an omnibus bill that would amend 11 different NZ laws to meet obligations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and enable New Zealand to ratify the agreement.
On November 16, 2016, the Office of the United States Trade Representative.(USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice inform the public of the availability of import statistics for the first nine months of 2016 relating to competitive need limitations (CNLs) under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. These import statistics identify some articles for which the 2016 trade levels may exceed statutory CNLs. Interested parties may find this information useful in deciding whether…
On November 14, 2016, the Federal Register published Presidential Notice of November 9, 2016 – Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Burundi, which extends for an additional year the national emergency first declared in Executive Order (EO) 13712 of November 22, 2015 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in Burundi, which has been marked by the killing of and violence against civilians, unrest, the incitement of imminent violence, and significant political repression, and which threatens the peace, security, and stability of Burundi.Â
On 11 November 2016, the Official Journal published a communication [2016/C 415/01] with a table showing the Classification Decisions, Classification Opinions or amendments to the Explanatory Notes of the Nomenclature of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System, adopted by the Customs Cooperation Council [the legal name of the World Customs Organization] (CCC document No NC2237 — report of the 57th session of the HS Committee). Customs authorities shall revoke decisions relating to binding information from 11 November if they become incompatible with the interpretation of the customs nomenclature as a result of the international tariff measures indicated below: