A Florida man pleaded guilty Dec. 27 to scheming to illegally import dinosaur fossils that had been smuggled out of Mongolia and China, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Between 2010 and 2012, Eric Prokopi, of Gainesville, Fla., acquired dinosaur fossils from foreign countries and unlawfully transported them to the U.S., misrepresenting the contents of shipments on customs forms, according to the plea, ICE alleged.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website Dec. 28, 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://1.usa.gov/VxGCVA. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
The Coalition of Frozen Shrimp Industries filed petitions with the International Trade Administration and International Trade Commission Dec. 28, requesting countervailing duties on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from China (C-570-988), Ecuador (C-331-803), India (C-533-854), Indonesia (C-560-825), Malaysia (C-557-814), Thailand (C-549-828), and Vietnam (C-552-815). “Production and exports in the seven countries are fueled by explicit government growth plans and backed by billions of government dollars,” the petition said. Frozen warmwater shrimp from China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam are already subject to antidumping duty orders issued in 2005. An AD order on shrimp from Ecuador was issued at the same time, but subsequently revoked.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the Dec. 28 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 remanded an administrative law judge’s determination of no violation of Section 337 by imports of certain devices for improving uniformity used in a backlight module and components thereof and products containing same (337-TA-805). The ALJ only reached decisions on infringement and domestic injury (for which he found none), the ITC said, but should have also decided patent validity and enforceability, given that a hearing had already taken place. The ITC also said it would review the entirety of the ALJ’s determination. International Technology Research Institute originally requested the investigations, which named several LG companies as respondents.
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments by Jan. 8 on any public interest issues raised by Covidien LP’s patent complaint on certain balloon dissection devices and products containing same (D/N 2925), filed Dec. 21. The complaint named the following respondents:
Because of “extraordinary factual circumstances” and its receipt of no petitions for review, the International Trade Commission decided not to review an administrative law judge’s determination finding no violation of Section 337 by imports of certain computer forensic devices and products containing same (337-TA-799), terminating the investigation. The patent investigation was originally requested by MyKey technology, and only three respondents remain -- Guidance Tableau, CRU Acquisitions Group, and Digital Intelligence. The ALJ said MyKey didn’t satisfy the economic prong of the domestic industry requirement, so Section 337 wasn’t violated. In its notice, the ITC said it would normally review such a determination, but for the particular circumstances of this case.
The International Trade Administration published notices in the Dec. 28 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration initiated administrative reviews for certain firms subject to antidumping duty orders with November anniversary dates. The ITA intends to issue the final results of these reviews no later than Nov. 30, 2013.
The International Trade Administration moved up the effective date for revocation of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on honey from Argentina (A-357-812 / C-357-813), after receiving no opposition to its preliminary results of a changed circumstances review. In the September results of a sunset review, the ITA revoked the AD/CV duty orders as of Aug. 2, 2012. Through this changed circumstances review, the ITA now says the effective date of revocation is Dec. 1, 2010, for the AD duty order, and Dec. 1, 2011, for the CV duty order.