Shipping penalties and food labeling are among the new trade-related rulemakings in the most recent semiannual regulatory agendas issued by federal agencies. These online resources list the following regulations affecting international trade that could be issued within the next year, with the expected timeframes indicated in parentheses.
Regulations Proposed
- a Federal Maritime Commission proposed rule to modernize and clarify requirements for the filing of ocean common carrier and marine terminal operator agreements (December 2023, unchanged)
- an FMC final rule to define unreasonable refusal to deal or negotiate with respect to vessel space accommodations provided by an ocean common carrier (December 2023, previously July 2023; supplemental proposed rule issued June 2023)
- an FMC final rule to require carriers and MTOs to include certain minimum information on or with, and adhere to certain practices regarding the timing of, demurrage and detention billings (January 2024, previously July 2023; proposed rule issued in October 2022)
- a Food and Drug Administration proposed rule to require import filers to submit the FDA premarket application number for electronic nicotine delivery systems products in the Automated Commercial Environment at the time of entry (January 2024; previously July 2023)
- an FDA proposed rule to require a certification or other assurance that imported food complies with U.S. food safety requirements (January 2024; previously August 2023)
- an FDA proposed rule to revoke regulations regarding mutual recognition of pharmaceutical reports with the European Union because they have been superseded by a 2017 agreement or are unnecessary (January 2024; first time published)
- an FDA final rule implementing the agency’s authority to administratively destroy any medical device valued at $2,500 or less that is refused admission into the U.S. (January 2024; proposed rule issued October 2022)
- a State Department final rule to expand the list of personal protective equipment covered by the exemption in ITAR section 123.17 (January 2024; unchanged)
- a State Department final rule to expand the definition of activities that are not exports, reexports, transfers, or temporary imports (January 2024, previously September 2023; proposed rule issued December 2022)
- a State Department interim final rule revising and excluding entries on the U.S. Munitions List that no longer warrant inclusion and adding entries for critical and emerging technologies that do (January 2024; previously August 2023)
- a State Department final rule to clarify the definitions of “export” and “reexport” and revise the exemption for intra-company, intra-organization, and intra-governmental transfers to dual or third-country nationals (January 2024, previously October 2023; proposed rule issued February 2022)
- a State Department final rule to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to (a) create definitions for activities that are not exports, re-exports, or retransfers, (b) remove from ITAR licensing requirements the electronic transmission and storage of unclassified technical data via foreign communications infrastructure when the data is secured sufficiently to prevent access by foreign persons, and (c) create a definition for “access information” and revise the definition of “release” to include the improper provision of access information to foreign persons (January 2024, previously September 2023; interim final rule published December 2019)
- an FDA proposed rule to make clarifying changes to the general provisions related to the registration of food facilities rule (February 2004; previously November 2023)
- a USDA proposed rule to establish criteria for evaluating grant of inspection applications for official import inspection establishments (March 2024; previously November 2023)
- a USDA final rule to define the conditions under which meat, poultry, and egg product labels can bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of U.S. origin (March 2024, previously May 2024; proposed rule issued in March 2023)
- a Treasury Department proposed rule to recognize certain alcohol beverage product names as limited to products manufactured in Japan (April 2024; previously September 2023)
- a Treasury Department final rule to establish the procedures by which foreign producers of alcohol may assign quantity-limited tax benefits to U.S. importers and by which importers may receive such assignments and submit refund claims (May 2024, unchanged; proposed rule published September 2022)
- an FDA proposed rule to require front-of-food labels to display certain nutrition information (June 2024; previously December 2023)
- a USDA proposed rule to reduce the time period within which live birds and other avian commodities could not be exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza immediately preceding export to the U.S. (July 2024; first time published)
- a USDA proposed rule to update the criteria used to evaluate whether a foreign country is eligible to export meat, poultry, or egg products to the U.S. (July 2024; previously August 2023)
- an FDA proposed rule to revise written assurance requirements for importers of human or animal food under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program rule when they identify hazards that require a control and the hazards are controlled after importation (October 2024; previously April 2024)
Regulations Completed
- an FDA proposed rule to (1) require those who submit prior notice of food imported by international mail to provide the name of the mail service and mail tracking number, (2) create a timeframe for submitting post-refusal/hold submissions, and (3) clarify FDA and CBP processes for having the food exported or destroyed if such submissions are untimely
- an FMC final rule on fees and minimum requirements for access to common carrier tariffs
- an FMC final rule amending the agency’s rules of practice and procedure governing the compromise, assessment, mitigation, settlement, and collection of civil penalties
- a USDA final rule that makes a number of amendments to the horse import regulations to allow more flexibility for permitted imports and better align with international standards
- a USDA final rule to allow imports of fresh beef from Paraguay
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