The Commerce Department will require cash deposits of estimated countervailing duties on imports of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane from China, it said in a April. 14 fact sheet announcing its preliminary determination. The agency set CV duty cash deposit rates at 1.35% to 28.74%, depending on the exporter. Commerce's final determination is currently due in August. ITT will have details on these preliminary determinations when they are published in the Federal Register.
On April 14 the Food and Drug Administration posted new and revised versions of the following Import Alerts on the detention without physical examination of:
During the week of April 7-13, the Food and Drug Administration modified the following existing Import Alerts (not otherwise listed on the FDA's new and revised import alerts page) on the detention without physical examination and/or surveillance of:
The Food and Drug Administration posted a new Compliance Policy Guide for its staff on enforcement criteria for canned ackee, frozen ackee, and other ackee products. Ackee naturally contains a toxin called hypoglycin A, and the fruit has to be processed in certain ways to minimize health risks. The guide (here) tells FDA staff that ackee is considered to be adulterated if it contains hypoglycin A at levels above 100 ppm. In such cases, FDA staff are to refuse entries of imported ackee.
On April 14 the Foreign Agricultural Service posted the following GAIN reports:
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced changes April 14 to Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) electronic manuals. While some changes are minor, other changes may affect the admissibility of the plant products, including fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on April 14 struck down as unconstitutional parts of the Security and Exchange Commission’s new regulations on reporting of conflict minerals. A 2012 final rule requires companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country (see 12082308). The first reports are due May 31, 2014. Under the regulations, if a company used tantalum, tin, gold or tungsten the SEC considers a conflict mineral in their products, then the company would have to report that the product is not conflict minerals-free. Although it upheld other aspects of the new regulations, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the requirement to say if a product is “not DRC conflict free” in company reports and on company websites illegally compels speech in violation of the First Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 14 upheld a lower court ruling in a contentious dispute over CBP’s reclassification of white sauce imported by International Custom Products. As it had foreshadowed during oral argument, CAFC ruled that a CBP notice of action effectively revoked a 1999 ruling letter on the white sauce, which means it was an “interpretive ruling or decision” that should have been subject to notice and comment under 19 USC 1625(c).
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website April 14, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
NCBFAA Broker Known Importer Program Has Benefits, Also Liability for Customs Brokers, Say Panelists
LAS VEGAS -- The Broker-Known Importer Program will at least start as an industry initiative because of restrictive rules on how CBP can launch official pilot programs, said Alan Klestadt during a panel discussion April 9 at the annual conference of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA). The association last year suggested that CBP adopt the program, which is meant to leverage some basic information brokers collect about their clients. The NCBFAA is coming up with the verification criteria and will open the program up to both association and non-association participants. In return, the NCBFAA is asking CBP to create an entry flag and incentivize importer participation. Klestadt says the NCBFAA wants CBP will conduct a survey 14 months into the program to see how it’s working. Eventually, the NCBFAA hopes CBP will formalize the program through regulations or a policy document.