On November 13, 2014, the Federal Register published Presidential Notice of November 12, 2014—Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iran which extends the national emergency originally declared on November 14, 1979, by Executive Order 12170 to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the situation in Iran. Because our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and…
On 10 November 2014, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that at the APEC leaders meeting, President Obama announced that the United States and the People’s Republic of China had reached an understanding on a bilateral agreement on expanding the scope of goods covered by the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). This agreement paves the way for the resumption and swift conclusion of the first major tariff-cutting deal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 17…
On 13 November 2014, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States and India reached agreement on a set of measures intended to break the impasse in the work of the WTO to implement the agreements reached last December at the WTO Ministerial in Bali.According to the announcement, the agreement, which will be presented for consideration by the full WTO membership in the near future, consists of two key elements: • U.S. and India…
On 21 October 2014, the UK, together with 13 other EU Member States wrote to the EU Commissioner-Designate for Trade, setting out the need for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) to be comprehensive and ambitious. The letter said, in pertinent part: If we are to unlock the full potential of a TTIP deal, it must be comprehensive and ambitious. That is why EU Member States agreed a far-reaching mandate as the basis…
On October 23, 2014, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a notice of arrival restrictions announcing the decision of the Commissioner of CBP to direct all flights to the U.S. carrying persons who have recently traveled to, from, or through Ebola-stricken countries to arrive at one of the U.S. airports where CBP is implementing enhanced screening procedures. Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1433(c) and 19 C.F.R. 122.32, CBP has the…
On 21 October 2014, the Iris OifigiĂşil (Irish Official Gazette), published S.I. No. 474/2014 – Customs (Electronic Filing of Returns) Order 2014 and S.I. No. 475/2014 – Customs (Mandatory Electronic Filing) (Specified Persons) Regulations 2014. The Order is made by the Revenue Commissioners under the provisions of section 917E of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, which was inserted by section 209 of the Finance Act, 1999. The Regulations are made by the Revenue Commissioners under…
On 16 October 2014, the Argentine Central Bank (the “ACB”) issued Communication “A” 5647 (the “Communication”) reducing the term that importers had to evidence the actual entry into the country of imported goods that were paid for in advance. The Communication was issued in order to avoid the devaluation expectation which accelerate payments of import goods in advance increasing the demand for foreign currency in the foreign exchange market. Accordingly, the ACB has reduced the…
On October 16, 2014, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) distributed CSMS# 14-000552 (Updated in CSMS# 14-000553) on behalf of the International Trade Data System (ITDS) Committee of the Trade Support Network (TSN) seeking participants in an APHIS Lacey Act Working Group. The purpose of the Lacey Act Import Working Group will be to ensure that all stakeholder groups are invited to participate in a discussion of the technical requirements that will be necessary for…
On October 16, 2014, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking [CPSC Docket No. CPSC–2014–0024] that would amend the substantial product hazard list in 16 C.F.R. part 1120 to specify that seasonal and decorative lighting products that do not contain one or more of three readily observable characteristics (minimum wire size, sufficient strain relief, or overcurrent protection) constitute a substantial product hazard under the Consumer Product…
On October 15, 2014, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice announcing that for the purpose of U.S. Government procurement that is covered by Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, the effective date of the WTO Protocol Amending the Agreement on Government Procurement, done at Geneva on 30 March 2012 (Protocol), for the Netherlands with respect to Aruba (Aruba) is October 31, 2014.The…