In the United States the following events have taken place under the several PGA during the month of February 2018.
| Agencies | Summary |
| Federal Register | Annual listing of foreign government subsidies on articles of cheese: This notice has been given by the International Trade Administration (ITA). Section 702 of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (as amended) requires the Department of Commerce to determine, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, whether any foreign government is providing a subsidy with respect to any article of cheese subject to an in-quota rate of duty, as defined in section 702(h) of the Act, and to publish quarterly updates to the type and amount of those subsidies. The Department of Commerce provide Commerce’s quarterly update of subsidies on articles of cheese that were imported during the period July 1, 2017, through September 30, 2017. See Details |
| Notice of NAFTA request for panel review: This notice presents NAFTA Request for panel review in the matter of 100- to 150-seat large civil aircraft from Canada. Requests for panel review were filed on behalf of Bombardier Inc. and C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership and the Canadian Government with the United States Section of the NAFTA Secretariat on January 19, 2018, pursuant to NAFTA Article 1904. Panel Review was requested of the Department of Commerce’s final determination of sales at less than fair value regarding 100- to 150-Seat Large Civil Aircraft from Canada. See Details |
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| CBP | CBP reaches historic milestone with final core trade processing deployment in ACE: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reached a historic milestone on February 24, 2018 deploying the last of the major scheduled core trade processing capabilities in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). ACE streamlines the import or export process into a “single window”, which allows companies to electronically transmit the data required by the U.S. Government to import or export cargo. Later, CBP will focus on sustaining all deployed ACE capabilities and ensuring ACE operates as a highly available, reliable system. See Details |
| CBP discloses electronic version of Form I-736: The U.S. CBP has released an electronic version of Form I-736 for visitors destined for Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) who are participating in the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The electronic Form I-736 is available at their website. All arriving Guam-CNMI VWP travelers must be in possession of a completed and signed Form I-736. See Details |
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| CBP advances US Trade Enforcement, Facilitation: The U.S. CBP continues to make progress in implementing the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) on the Act’s two year anniversary. The Act helps to ensure a fair and competitive trade environment for American businesses. As authorized by the TFTEA legislation, CBP increased the de minimis value from $200 to $800 and adjusted the threshold in ACE to reduce the costs associated with importing low valued shipments. This agency continues to advance its efforts to streamline and modernize its business processes and practices through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)—the backbone of the U.S. Government’s “Single Window” system of imports and exports. See Details |
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| FSIS | Inspection of closed-face sandwiches: This notice is being re-issued to continue the inspection of closed-face sandwiches for export to Canada as described in FSIS Notice 98-16. This notice provides instructions to inspection program personnel (IPP) regarding verifying compliance with Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (Sanitation SOPs) and 9 CFR 430 regulations in establishments that produce closed-face sandwiches (including non-traditional closed-face sandwiches, e.g., breakfast sandwiches) for export to Canada. See Details |
