The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) will not move forward on a number of the agency's proposals that would have resulted in some new financial and licensing requirements for Ocean Transport Intermediaries (OTIs), said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. "Specifically, the FMC will not require any new license applications every two years, will not establish any summary revocation procedure for licenses, will not increase OTI bonds, will not establish any bond priority system or public filing of bond claims, will not establish regulations for advertising or the proposed rebuttable presumptions concerning the legality of actions by agents, and will not require all agency agreements to be in writing," the association said.
The Federal Maritime Commission released a notice of the filing of the following agreements under the Shipping Act of 1984. Interested parties may submit comments on the agreement to the Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573, within 10 days.
The World Customs Organization and the International Trademark Association (INTA) will partner in efforts to stop counterfeiting, the WCO said in a press release. The memorandum of understanding, signed July 14, will provide the associations "a platform to strengthen Customs coordination through education and training projects, and through the exchange of information and best practices between Customs and the private sector," said the release. "The organizations will also place a strong emphasis on public education to raise awareness about the dangers of counterfeiting and its impact on the global economy, including collaboration on INTA’s public awareness initiative, the Unreal Campaign."
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of July 14. This report (here) includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 7 - 11 in case they were missed.
CBP will not consider the edges of fabric, known as selvage, when it reviews the classification of banners imported by FNS Customs Brokers for its client, Moojin Chem, the agency said in response to an internal advice request. The company requested that CBP weigh in on the classification of imports of two sizes of mesh banners, both of which have frayed edges that "are not embedded, coated or covered with plastic." The ruling, HQ H242096, is dated May 7 and was sent to the New Orleans Port Director.
The Federal Trade Commission will make a number of revisions to its guides for rebuilt, reconditioned and other used automobile parts, it said in a notice. The revisions, which are effective Aug. 22, follow an agency review of the guides (see 12051819). The updates are not substantial and are largely stylistic and to improve clarity, it said.
The Federal Trade Commission asked for input on its existing rules for manufacturers and importers of imitation political items, it said in a notice. The rules were implemented as a result of the Hobby Protection Act of 1973 and were last reviewed by the FTC in 2004. The agency asks a number of questions about the rules, including whether there's a continued need for the rules and what benefits they provide. Comments are due Sept. 22.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated July 11 with 98 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 182,898. The most recent ruling is dated 07/11/14.
CBP's draft changes to an Informed Compliance Publication (ICP) that expands on the use of first sale valuation likely points to plans to increase scrutiny of such claims, even if the agency doesn't adopt the entirety of the revisions, said law firms and other industry members. While there's already been some vocal opposition to the proposed changes, "the bottom line is that companies that utilize first sale should expect CBP to be taking a closer look at their programs," said Baker & McKenzie customs lawyer Ted Murphy in a blog post (here). CBP recently circulated a draft version of the ICP changes, including a controversial list of documents the agency might ask for to verify the use of first sale pricing, to the industry (see 14071025).