Department of Commerce July 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We have determined that the antidumping duty administrative review of Tubos de Acero de Mexico, S.A. (``TAMSA'') should be rescinded.

In response to a request from Taiga Building Products Ltd., the Department of Commerce is initiating a changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty order on Certain Softwood Lumber Products from Canada.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is withdrawing a proposed rule that would have made use of the Simplified Network Application Process (SNAP) mandatory and that would have comprehensively revised the provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that govern electronic filing. BIS is continuing to work on improvements to its on-line application system and will issue new rules as needed to implement those improvements.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Scallop Committee in July, 2006 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

The proposed rule would implement measures adopted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to facilitate conservation and management of AMLR. The proposed rule would require the use of the Centralized satellite-linked vessel monitoring system by all U.S. vessels harvesting AMLR and would be a condition of import for all U.S. dealers seeking to import shipments of toothfish (Dissostichus) into the United States. This proposed rule would also exempt all shipments of fresh toothfish from the NMFS preapproval process and allow importers of frozen toothfish to submit the U.S. Customs 7501 entry number subsequent to their initial application for preapproval. The proposed rule would require the use of Electronic Catch Documents, after a 60-day transition period, for all U.S. dealers seeking to import shipments of toothfish into the United States. Paper-based catch documents for toothfish would no longer be accepted. The proposed rule would also require the use of a seal excluder device on krill vessels using trawl gear in the Area of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Convention Area). The proposed rule would add or amend definitions of ``Antarctic marine living resources'', ``export'', ``import'', ``international observer'', ``land or landing'', ``mobile transceiver unit'', ``national observer'', ``Office for Law Enforcement (OLE)'', ``Port State'', ``re-export'', ``seal excluder device'', ``transship or transshipment'', and ``vessel monitoring system (VMS)''. The proposed rule would also expand the list of requirements and prohibitions regarding scientific observers and clarify the duties and responsibilities of the observers on the vessels and of the vessel owners hosting the observers. The proposed rule identifies new information on all vessels licensed by CCAMLR Members to harvest AMLR in the area identified in the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Convention). The intent of this rule is to incorporate new conservation measures, to revise procedures to facilitate enforcement, and to fulfill U.S. agreements in CCAMLR.

On March 6, 2006, the Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') published the preliminary results of the administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon- quality steel plate products (``CTL Plate'') from Italy. See Certain Cut-To-Length Carbon-Quality Steel Plate Products From Italy: Preliminary Results and Partial Rescission of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 71 FR 11178 (March 6, 2006) (``Preliminary Results''). This review covers five producers/exporters of CTL Plate. The period of review (``POR'') is February 1, 2004, through January 31, 2005. Based upon our analysis of the record evidence, the Department finds that the application of adverse facts available (``AFA'') is warranted with respect to Palini and Bertoli S.p.A. (``Palini''). Further, the Department is rescinding the review with respect to Trametal S.p.A. (``Trametal'') because there is no entry against which to collect duties. The Department is also rescinding the review for Metalcam S.p.A. (``Metalcam'') and Riva Fire S.p.A. (``Riva Fire'') because they had no shipments during the POR. The Department is also rescinding this review with respect to Ilva S.p.A. (``Ilva'') because Ilva was improperly included in this administrative review.

Export Trading Company Affairs (``ETCA''), International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, has received an application to amend an Export Trade Certificate of Review (``Certificate''). This notice summarizes the proposed amendment and requests comments relevant to whether the Certificate should be issued.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

On June 14, 2002, the Bureau of Industry and Security (``BIS'') published a notice in the Federal Register that set forth a list of persons in foreign countries who were parties to past export transactions where pre-license checks or post-shipment verifications could not be conducted for reasons outside the control of the U.S. Government (``Unverified List''). Additionally, on July 16, 2004, BIS published a notice in the Federal Register that advised exporters that the Unverified List would also include persons in foreign countries in transactions where BIS is not able to verify the existence or authenticity of the end-user, intermediate consignee, ultimate consignee, or other party to the transaction. These notices advised exporters that the involvement of a listed person as a party to a proposed transaction constitutes a ``red flag'' as described in the guidance set forth in Supplement No. 3 to 15 CFR part 732, requiring heightened scrutiny by the exporter before proceeding with such a transaction. This notice adds three entities to the Unverified List. The entities are: Sheeba Import Export, Hadda Street, Sanaa, Yemen; Aerospace Consumerist Consortium FZCO, Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O. Box 17951, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Dubai International Airport, Dubai, 3365, UAE; and Medline International LLC, P.O. Box 86343 Dubai, UAE.

The Regional Administrator, Southwest Region, NMFS has made a preliminary determination that an application for an exempted fishing permit (EFP) warrants further consideration. The application was submitted to NMFS by the Federation of Independent Seafood Harvesters (FISH), requesting an exemption from the fishing prohibitions within the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off California and Oregon. The Regional Administrator has also made a preliminary determination that the activities authorized under the EFP would be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Fishery Management Plan (FMP). However, further review and consultation is necessary before a final determination is made to issue the EFP. Therefore, NMFS proposes to review the EFP and requests public comment on the application.

NMFS is prohibiting directed fishing for Pacific Ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). This action is necessary to prevent exceeding the 2006 total allowable catch (TAC) of Pacific Ocean perch in the Central Regulatory Area of the GOA.

As a result of the determinations by the Department of Commerce (``Department'') and the International Trade Commission (``Commission'') that revocation of this antidumping duty order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping and material injury to an industry in the United States, pursuant to section 751(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (``the Act''), the Department hereby orders the continuation of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from the People's Republic of China (``the PRC''). The Department is publishing notice of the continuation of this antidumping duty order.

The New England Fishery Management Council (Council) is scheduling a public meeting of its Research Steering Committee in July, 2006 to consider actions affecting New England fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Recommendations from this group will be brought to the full Council for formal consideration and action, if appropriate.

On March 7, 2006, the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published the preliminary results of the countervailing duty (``CVD'') administrative review of certain cut-to-length carbon- quality steel plate (``CTL Plate'') from the Republic of Korea (``Korea''). The review covers Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., Ltd. (``DSM''). The period of review (``POR'') is January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2004. The Department received no comments concerning our preliminary results; therefore, our final results remain unchanged from our preliminary results. The final results are listed in the section ``Final Results of Review'' below.

NMFS announces an adjustment to the ending date of the annual closure of the shrimp fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off Texas. The closure is normally from May 15 to July 15 each year. For 2006, the closure began on May 15, and will end at 30 minutes after sunset on July 10. The Texas closure is intended to prohibit the harvest of brown shrimp during their major emigration from Texas estuaries to the Gulf of Mexico so the shrimp may reach a larger, more valuable size and to prevent the waste of brown shrimp that would be discarded in fishing operations because of their small size.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is proposing changes to information disclosure statement (IDS) requirements and other related matters to improve the quality and efficiency of the examination process. The proposed changes will enable the examiner to focus on the relevant portions of submitted information at the very beginning of the examination process, give higher quality first actions, and minimize wasted steps. The Office is proposing the following changes relating to submissions of IDSs by applicants/patent owners: Before a first Office action on the merits, require additional disclosure for English language documents over twenty-five pages, for any foreign language documents, or if more than twenty documents are submitted, but documents submitted in reply to a requirement for information or resulting from a foreign search or examination report would not count towards the twenty document limit; permit the filing of an IDS after a first Office action on the merits only if certain additional disclosure requirements have been met; and eliminate the fees for submitting an IDS. Updates to the additional disclosure requirements would be required as needed for every substantive amendment. The Office is also proposing to revise the protest rule to better set forth options that applicants have for dealing with unsolicited information received from third parties.