U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Port of Los Angeles office issued reminders to the trade about CBP's Zero Tolerance Policy regarding "gateouts." (A "gateout" is defined as a container/cargo that has been targeted by CBP for terrorism or enforcement inspection that is released without authorization from CBP.)
Static Control Seeks Remanufacturer Protection Language for Proposed CBP Counterfeit Trademark Rules
U.S. Customs and Border Protection should make changes to language in a proposed rule that would amend CBP's regulations on importing merchandise bearing recorded trademarks or recorded trade names, said Static Control Components in comments filed at CBP. The company said the new wording is necessary to allow for the legal movement of products for "remanufacturers," which refurbish used products and continue to use the products' trademarks for to ensure compatibility, said Static.
A wide group of agricultural and farm interests support a reorganization of "trade-related agencies, programs and activities" and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they said in a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) The groups said the creation of new position, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, would provide a "singular focus on trade and foster more effective coordination" of USDA trade policies.
Thomas Fusco, formerly supervisory attorney in the office of unfair import investigations at the International Trade Commission, was hired as counsel at Fish & Richardson.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will hold two Webinars for carriers and software developers who haven't started the transition from AMS to eManifest: Rail and Sea (M1). CBP will shut down AMS on Sept. 29, leaving M1 as the only electronic filing environment.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was last updated June 7 with 116 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 171,534. The most recent ruling is dated 5/25/2012 12:00:00 AM
The House Natural Resources Committee gave its approval June 7 to HR-3210, the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness (RELIEF) Act. If enacted, the bill would amend the Lacey Act to exempt its application to pre-2008 plant imports and products. An amendment introduced by Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) removed provisions that would require a new certification process, adequate funding for the processing of declarations, Federal Trade Commission review etc.
An update to U.S. Customs and Border Protection 19 CFR Parts 111 rules will take at least a year to be finalized, said Elena Ryan, Acting Director of Trade Facilitation and Administration at CBP. Ryan spoke June 7 during CBP’s first of several Webinars focused on the “Role of the Broker.” CBP is also in the "final stages" of putting together a Federal Register notice that will announce CBP's Importers Self-Assessment (ISA) pre-certification program, which will allow accredited brokers to assess their clients' readiness to participate in the ISA program. That notice should be out in the next few months, she said.
The effective date of a U.S. law requiring 100% shipping container scanning has been quietly pushed back from July 1, 2012 to 2014, to the great relief of the EU, we've learned. The “Implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007,” which requires every U.S.-bound maritime container to be scanned and reviewed by U.S. customs officers before it's loaded aboard a ship, has proved a political irritant between the EU and U.S., said Lilian Bertin, head of sector, U.S. and Canada, in the European Commission Taxation and Customs Union Directorate's international coordination unit, in an interview Thursday. The EU favors a risk management-based approach, he said. Europe has been lobbying for repeal for five years, he said, but the issue is caught up in a split between the Obama Administration and Congress.