Three product safety agencies of North America -- the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Health Canada and the Consumer Protection Federal Agency of Mexico -- jointly developed consensus recommendations to improve test methods for ensuring the safety of AC and USB chargers, the CPSC said in an April 4 news release. In trilateral letters to the standards development organizations in the three countries, the agencies recommended new testing to assess potential fire and burn hazards caused by AC and USB chargers for small electronic devices. The effort is the first example of a joint consumer product safety standard recommendation developed among multiple governments that aren’t members of a single administrative region, they said. The goal of the multiyear project is to foster closer alignment of consumer product safety requirements through technical consultations and to seek consensus approaches to consumer product hazards not yet being addressed through formal regulatory or standards work, they said.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 3 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently updated its information page on the Automated Import Reference System Verification Service (AVS), the agency said an email. "AVS helps importers/brokers validate multiple commodities against the most current [Automated Import Reference System (AIRS)] database," the CFIA said. "Within minutes, AVS identifies which line in a transaction, if any, is incorrect." The AVS technical specifications page and a list of frequently asked questions were also recently updated.

Implementation of the Central American Single Declaration (DUCA) in several Central American countries has been delayed until May 7, according to customs agencies in Costa Rica and several other countries in the region. The new electronic declaration, which replaces the Central American Single Customs Form (FAUCA) and the Single Declaration of Goods for the International Terrestrial Customs Transit (DUT), will be used as the goods declaration by the member states of the General Treaty of Central American Economic Operation (i.e., Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama), according to an alert from the Central American law firm Arias. The new declaration had been set to take effect April 1.

Mexico’s Tax Administration Service announced the addition of several new “web services” for the electronic transmission through the VUCEM single window of permits and certificates required by COFEPRIS (the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risk) and SADER (the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development), in a fact sheet issued April 2. Newly added permits include sanitary certificates for drugs and medical devices, as well as a web service for modifications to phytosanitary imports for imports.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 2 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):

Recent editions of Mexico's Diario Oficial list trade-related notices as follows:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recently posted new guidance for importers declaring CFIA-regulated goods as Canadian goods returning. A paper declaration must be made to the Canada Border Services Agency for Canadian tariff codes 9813 or 9814, while all other declarations “for CFIA regulated goods returning to Canada can be submitted electronically,” CFIA said. The three main items that must be included on import declaration for Canadian goods returning are the country of origin (Canada), the country the product is being exported from, and the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) end use, CFIA said.

Canada is implementing new import restrictions on certain commodities used in animal feed, including unprocessed and raw grains and oilseeds and associated meals, when imported from a list of countries that have had cases of African Swine Fever in the past five years. According to a Canadian Food Inspection Agency notice posted by the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, the restrictions apply to all goods of Chapter 11 of the Canadian tariff schedule, and some goods of Chapters 10, 12 and 23, imported through the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax. Such imports, when imported from any of the 43 countries named as having a recent case of ASF, must be accompanied by an import permit from CFIA and a producer questionnaire. The U.S. is not one of the countries on the list.

The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of March 29 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):