Gerardo Chavez, president of the San Diego Customs Association (SDCA), was among a group charged with conspiracy and fraud for a scheme to avoid customs duties on imported products. A total of eight individuals and three companies worked to bring in shipments worth at least $100 million, while avoiding more than $10 million in customs duties and taxes, according to the filing. Among other things, the group forged Transportation and Entry manifests, dodged Food and Drug Administration inspections, and tried to disguise shipments known to be infected with Salmonella, the federal charges say.
The House Ways and Means Committee scheduled a July 26 markup on legislation granting Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status and repealing legislation that limits trade with Communist countries. The bill, HR-6156, is (here). The Senate Finance Committee gave its approval to similar legislation July 18. (See ITT's Online Archives 12071912 for a summary of the Senate Finance bill.)
The House didn't hold a scheduled July 24 vote on HR-5986, a trade bill that would extend African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provisions and extend Burmese import restrictions. The House bill was scheduled for consideration under suspension of the rules, meaning a markup from the House Ways and Means Committee, where the bill originated, won't be required. No reason for the delay was given.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated July 23 with 221 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 173241. The most recent ruling is dated 7/20/2012 12:00:00 AM.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working in closely with other federal departments and agencies to translate the high-level the Supply Chain Security Strategy into concrete actions, said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing July 25 on "Understanding the Homeland Threat Landscape."
CBP will open a new comment period on proposed changes to the in-bond process after it didn't post a small business regulatory analysis quickly enough following the initial Federal Register notice (FR Pub 02/22/12). A notice on the new comment period ran July 26 in the Federal Register. Comments, solely on the small business analysis, are due Aug. 27. The comment period for the initial proposal concluded April 23.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said it reviewed the rules proposed by the National Marine Fisheries Service that would lift the trade restrictions on importing bigeye tuna from Bolivia and Georgia but didn't have any comments "at this time." The proposed rule would also make administrative changes to the section containing species-specific harmonized tariff codes in support of the International Trade Program. Comments are due July 25. In the rulemaking, NMFS would also consider administrative changes in support of the International Trade Permit (ITP) program to implement recent changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the House would consider HR-5986, a trade bill that mirrors Senate legislation, July 24. The House bill will be considered under suspension of the rules, meaning a markup from the House Ways and Means Committee, where the bill originated, won't be required. A similar Senate bill, S-3326, was recently approved by the Senate Finance Committee during a markup.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP posted a July 23 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.