Background

Trade practices, shipping agreements, and prior notice for food imports are among the topics of new rulemakings set forth 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 State Department notice of inquiry on 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 (July 2022; previously December 2021)

- 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 (July 2022, previously January 2022; interim final rule published December 2019)

- a Food and Drug Administration final rule requiring certain data elements to be submitted in the Automated Commercial Environment for veterinary devices (July 2022, previously March 2022; proposed rule issued August 2020)

- an FDA proposed rule to require import filers to submit the FDA premarket application number for electronic nicotine delivery system products in ACE at the time of entry (July 2022; previously February 2022)

- a State Department proposed rule to expand the definition of activities that are not exports, reexports, transfers, or temporary imports (July 2022; first time published)

- a Treasury Department ANPR on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s trade practice regulations (July 2022; first time published)

- a Treasury Department proposed rule to establish the procedures by which foreign producers of alcohol may assign the quantity-limited tax benefits to U.S. importers and by which importers may receive such assignments and submit refund claims (July 2022)

- a Federal Maritime Commission proposed rule to modernize and clarify requirements for the filing of ocean common carrier and marine terminal operator agreements (August 2022; first time published)

- a Department of Agriculture final rule to expand the categories of meat, poultry, and egg product labels that will be deemed generically approved and not required to be submitted to USDA (August 2022, previously April 2022; proposed rule issued September 2020)

- an FMC final rule on fees and minimum requirements for access to common carrier tariffs (September 2022; proposed rule issued May 2022)

- a State Department proposed rule to provide for the filing of trade documents for shrimp and shrimp products in the International Trade Data System and update the HTSUS numbers to which form DS-2031 applies (September 2022; previously December 2021)

- a USDA proposed rule to establish criteria for evaluating grant of inspection applications for official import inspection establishments (September 2022; previously March 2022)

- an FDA proposed rule to make clarifying changes to the general provisions related to the registration of food facilities rule (September 2022; previously May 2022)

- 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. (October 2022; previously May 2022)

- an FDA proposed rule to require a certification or other assurance that imported food complies with U.S. food safety requirements (December 2022; previously September 2022)

- a USDA proposed rule to define the conditions under which meat product labels can bear voluntary statements indicating that the product is of U.S. origin (December 2022; previously October 2022)

- a USDA proposed rule to allow imports of fresh beef from Paraguay (January 2023; first time published)

- a USDA final rule that would amend (1) the requirements for temporary exports of horses to contagious equine metritis-affected regions and the requirements for horses imported from screwworm-affected regions, (2) the general testing and quarantine requirements for horses imported by air, and (3) the requirements for imports of horses from Canada (January 2023; proposed rule issued November 2021)

- a State Department final rule to expand the list of personal protective equipment covered by the exemption in ITAR section 123.17 (January 2023; previously April 2022)

- 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 applied after importation (February 2023; previously October 2022)

- 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 (March 2023; first time published)

Regulations Completed

- a State Department proposed rule to (1) clarify the definitions of “export” and “reexport,” (2) replace the term “national” with “person” in the Canadian exemption, and (3) revise the exemption for intra-company, intra-organization, and intra-governmental transfers to dual or third-country nationals

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