The House Privacy Working Group will discuss the EU-U.S. free trade agreements March 5 with an academic and two industry representatives, said a spokesman for Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. They are: Jake Colvin, vice president-global trade issues for the trade association National Foreign Trade Council; Justin Weiss, Yahoo senior director-international privacy and policy; and Georgetown Law professor Laura Donohue, who focuses on national security. Blackburn, who co-chairs the working group with Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., has expressed serial skepticism of enhancing Federal Trade Commission authority over domestic and international data security. On March 5, the working group will examine the differences between the U.S. and European data security regulations, the challenges those differences create for citizens and businesses and whether the two sides' ongoing trade negotiations will address those differences, said Blackburn's office. It said the group will also discuss whether Congress should enact legislation to make U.S. privacy laws more in line with those of Europe.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 26. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
There have been "numerous [Importer Security Filing] rejections due to an importer number not on file when in fact the importer number is valid and on file with CBP," the agency said in a CSMS message. CBP is aware of the problem and "while this issue is worked on, the trade is advised to transmit normally but do not submit a second filing in order to attempt to force an acceptance," it said. The agency will send out another message once the problem is resolved. CBP recently said it was seeing ISF processing delays, a problem that has since been fixed (see 14022833).
CBP will restart its policy of finding a continuous bond insufficient if the agency gets back mail sent to the bond principal, said Roanoke Trade in an alert. The agency told the Customs Executive Surety Committee "that they will re-instate their returned mail process" and that "CBP’s bond team will render continuous bonds insufficient when CBP receives returned mail from the bond principal," the alert said. CBP will flag bonds insufficient on Tuesdays, starting with April 8 and Roanoke Trade, "through its surety account ACE portal, will monitor our customers’ continuous bonds and will work with those customers affected by this process," the surety said. "Bonds rendered insufficient for returned mail can be re-instated by submitting a bond rider and CBP Form 5106 to CBP’s bond team using the subject line, “RIDER IR#”. If only the mailing address is being changed, CBP will accept a CBP Form 5106 only."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 24-28 in case they were missed.
Sidley Austin appointed Jim Mendenhall, a former general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, as a partner in the law firm, said Sidley in a press release.
The Port of Baltimore is closed March 3 due to a snowstorm in the region, said CBP in a CSMS message (here). Duties and entry summaries due March 3 at the Port of Baltimore (Port Code 1303) and Baltimore-Washington Airport (Port Code 1305) will be given an additional day without penalty. The Ports of Richmond, Va. (Port Code 1404) and Charleston W. Va. (Port Code 1409) are also closed, said CBP (here).
World Customs Organization Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya recently made the rounds in Washington to discuss customs issues among U.S. trade leaders, the WCO said in a press release. Meetings included Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, CBP Acting Commissioner Thomas Winkowski, CBP Commissioner nominee Gil Kerlikowske and staff from the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, said the WCO. "The Secretary General also held discussions with the Pharmaceutical Industry (PhRMA) on issues affecting the industry and in particular issues surrounding Intellectual Property Rights," said the press release.
Congress could improve the Court of International Trade (CIT) through statutory updates to help improve it's efficiency, said CIT Chief Judge Donald Pogue, while speaking Feb. 27 on a panel at the Georgetown University Law Center International Trade Update conference. "There are too many areas in which the statute doesn't make sense," he said. "Our injunction practice is a good example." Problematic statutes are "wasting resources" and "we need a process that will identify those problems, find the solutions where, in fact, the administration of justice works better," he said. The panel included three CIT judges and a judge from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The event was sponsored by the Customs and International Trade Bar Association and the Federal Circuit Bar Association.
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