The Foreign Trade Zones Board issued the following notices for Feb. 25:
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court criminal conviction of two importers for failure to redeliver shipments of dairy products to CBP that the Food and Drug Administration had found to be adulterated. Although the defendants admitted to distributing and selling the merchandise after CBP had demanded redelivery, and with knowledge that the dairy products were contaminated with bacteria, the 11th circuit found that they were only liable for civil penalties, and not subject to prison sentences. According to the court, 19 CFR 141.113(c) on redelivery of FDA-regulated merchandise is clear in providing only for liquidated damages capped at three times the value of the merchandise.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Feb. 22, 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 addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of Feb. 13-19. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).2 Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
Mexico's Diario Oficial of Feb. 22, lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Feb. 22 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments by March 8 on an administrative law judge’s finding of no violation in its Section 337 patent investigation of Apple’s wireless communication devices (337-TA-745). Motorola requested the investigation in 2010, alleging violations by imports of Apple iPhones. After a remand on several issues, an administrative law judge found infringement, but said the patents were obvious based on other patents in combination with the knowledge of a person with ordinary skill in the art.
Laminated woven sacks screen that have three or more colors but are printed with two inks are not circumventing the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on laminated woven sacks from China (A-570-916 / C-570-917), said the International Trade Administration in its final results of a circumvention inquiry.
Steel threaded rod produced by Gem-Year Industrial Co. Ltd. is circumventing the antidumping duty order on imports of the product from China (A-570-932), said the ITA in its final circumvention determination. Gem-Year’s rod meets the AD duty order’s scope requirements in every way except for the amount of chromium, which is above the 1.25 percent threshold specified in the scope. As in the preliminary determination, the ITA found the distinction too minor to support exclusion.
Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the following voluntary recalls Feb. 21: