A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico indicted Chinese national Shuyi Mo on April 26 for fraud by wire and conspiracy to commit offense to defraud the U.S., CBP announced on May 4. Mo is the manager of a China-based supplier, Neviews Development Co. Ltd. According to the news release, Neviews conspired with a U.S. importer in Puerto Rico to "transship procelan mosaic tiles from China through Malaysia to circumvent antidumping and countervailing duties of approximately 718%," the release said. This scheme led to a revenue loss of approximately $1.1 million for the U.S. government, CBP said.
CBP is seeking applicants by June 5 for the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC). The COAC "provides advice and makes recommendations" the Treasury and DHS secretaries "on all matters involving the commercial operations of CBP and related functions," CBP said in a Federal Register notice.
Over half of charge complaints submitted to the Federal Maritime Commission have been resolved by the parties agreeing to a settlement, FMC Managing Director Lucille Marvin said during a May 3 FMC meeting. More than half of what comes in gets settled "almost right away," Marvin said. Once "regulated entities see that we're involved, they come back to the table and issue refunds or waivers."
Congress should amend shipping regulations to give the Federal Maritime Commission jurisdiction over certain fees assessed by railroads under ocean bills of lading, more than 70 trade groups, including the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, said in a May 2 letter to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The groups said those charges should be billed through the contracting carrier and be subject to demurrage and detention invoicing requirements that were included as part of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.
Orient Overseas Container Line has "a long history of maintaining the highest standards of regulatory compliance in the U.S. and elsewhere and an equally longstanding tradition of strong customer relationships and excellent customer service," the company emailed May 1 after being accused by Bed Bath & Beyond of violating U.S. shipping regulations. "We will continue to work with our customers and all relevant authorities to resolve any disputes in a professional, efficient, and amicable manner." Bed Bath & Beyond filed a complaint at the Federal Maritime Commission last week saying OOCL failed to meet "minimum quantity commitments" as part of a contract between the two companies (see 2305010049).
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) said shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line Limited (OOCL) failed to meet "minimum quantity commitments" as part of a contract with BBBY and imposed unfair detention and demurrage charges. In an April 27 complaint filed with the Federal Maritime Commission, BBBY asked the FMC to investigate OOCL for violations of the Shipping Act, order the company to put reasonable detention and demurrage practices in place and require it to pay reparations for the conduct.
NEW ORLEANS -- Federal Maritime Commissioner Max Vekich signaled he’s open to a further expansion of FMC authority, including potentially allowing the FMC to scrutinize certain rail storage fees.
NEW ORLEANS -- While a CBP pilot on pipeline imports may not at first glance have relevance for many importers, the ramifications of the pilot could have wide-ranging effects for importers and customs brokers as CBP applies any lessons learned to its development of ACE 2.0, according to Amy Magnus of A.N. Deringer.
NEW ORLEANS -- CBP doesn't want to revoke anyone’s customs broker licenses over the coming continuing education program requirements, Carie Samuel, Ascent Global Logistics vice president of regulatory compliance, said April 26 at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference. “They want us to be educated professionals who take this requirement very, very seriously because we asked for it. We wanted it and so they want us to take it seriously,” Samuel said.
NEW ORLEANS -- The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is preparing to ask Congress to allow the Federal Maritime Commission to exercise jurisdiction over certain rail storage fees. NCBFAA is drafting a letter to Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. -- the two House authors of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act -- that could ask the lawmakers to require the FMC to more forcefully regulate rail-assessed demurrage fees charged on ocean containers traveling inland.