Government Concentrates

Canada, EU impose sanctions over U.S. antidumping fees

On May 1, the European Union and Canada will begin adding a 15% surtax to many U.S. goods they import. They are doing so because Congress has not changed a U.S. law that the World Trade Organization determined to be illegal under international rules. That law addresses money that the federal government collects on imported goods that are "dumped"--sold at unfairly low prices--on the U.S. market. Before enactment of the 2000 law, called the Byrd amendment after its sponsor, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), this money went to the U.S. Treasury. The Byrd amendment directs the government to give the money to companies, including chemical manufacturers, that complain to federal officials that foreign competitors are unfairly dumping products in the U.S. WTO arbiters twice ruled that the Byrd amendment is illegal, siding with the EU and 10 countries that challenged the law. WTO last year authorized retaliatory duties against the U.S. as long as the Byrd amendment remains unaltered (C&EN, Sept. 6, 2004, page 14). Canada's surtax will hit imports of live pigs, cigarettes, oysters, and some fish and will amount to $14 million in 2005. The EU's sanctions will be slightly less than $28 million per year and target paper, agricultural products, textiles, and machinery. The retaliatory tariffs will not affect chemicals.

Griffin gets Senate vote to head NASA

Michael D. Griffin was unanimously approved by the Senate last week to become the new administrator at NASA. To assuage some senators' fears about the future of the Hubble Space Telescope, Griffin said at his confirmation hearing that the decision to cancel the space shuttle servicing mission to the telescope should be reassessed once the space shuttles have returned to flight. The possibility of a robotic servicing mission for Hubble, however, was deemed not feasible by a committee that he chaired prior to his nomination and will remain off the table, he told the senators. Griffin also noted that he wants to have the new Crew Exploration Vehicle in service as soon as possible to minimize the time between the shuttles' retirement (no later than 2010) and the projected completion of CEV (2014). Griffin's confirmation vote was expedited to ensure that an administrator is in place during the final preparations for the scheduled mid-May launch of the shuttle.

Placards to remain on railcars

Placards notifying emergency responders of the contents of rail tank cars carrying hazardous materials will remain on the cars, the head of the Department of Homeland Security said recently at a national meeting of firefighters and emergency responders. For several years, the federal government had considered removing these placards in order to make a possible terrorist attack on a railcar more difficult. But Secretary Michael Chertoff said DHS had assessed nine alternative technologies and found none to be satisfactory for first responders. The proposed removal was opposed by emergency responders and by many in industry, and Chertoff said maintaining the current system was a "commonsense approach to risk management."

Drug imports can undermine consumer safety

The U.S. risks undermining security and safety by opening its borders to non-FDA-approved prescription drugs from other countries, says a report prepared by former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. The report, funded by the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, says the risks of importing drugs from outside the U.S. outweigh any benefit. Congress is considering legislation to legalize the importation of drugs from foreign countries, especially from Canada, and some states are implementing drug importation schemes. Giuliani says that opening borders to drugs could provide opportunities for terrorists. "It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which terrorist groups could use this system to either finance operations or, worse, as a vehicle of attack," he says. The report calls on the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a vulnerability assessment of drug importation. Internet pharmacies in Canada are currently supplying drugs to U.S. citizens from 30 foreign countries, the report notes. The document is available at www.phrma.org.

GOVERNMENT & POLICY ROUNDUP

The National Institute of Standards & Technology and the University of Colorado have signed a memorandum of understanding to increase future partnerships between scientists and engineers at NIST's facilities in Boulder and Gaithersburg, Md., and those in the University of Colorado system. The focus of these interactions includes expanding collaborative research and training young scientists and engineers.

The House Science Committee has passed the Green Chemistry Research & Development Act of 2005 (H.R. 1215). The bill will increase the federal focus on green chemistry to discover more environmentally benign chemical products and processes.

The European Parliament approved a plan on April 13 to restrict the marketing and use of toluene and trichlorobenzene. The EU-wide restrictions limit concentrations of these solvents in a variety of products to less than 0.1% by mass. The restrictions go into effect 20 days after publication of the law in the Official Journal.

The Chemical & Biological Arms Control Institute and the International Institute for Strategic Studies-U.S., with support from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, have formed the International Council for the Life Sciences. ICLS is a global, private-membership-based organization intent on fostering the benefits of the life sciences while reducing global biological risks.