CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
In the Feb. 27 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 10), CBP published two notices of revocation of rulings and treatment regarding the tariff classification of insulating mineral materials and polyethylene.
An International Service Agreement (ISA) should preserve the licensing and citizenship requirements for U.S. customs brokers, said the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Current regulations require that only U.S. citizens can obtain a broker's license and that at least one officer of a company or association must hold a valid broker's license in order to work on customs business. "These licensing and citizenship requirements are necessary and should be preserved in any" ISA, said the NCBFAA. CBP relies on the information entrusted to brokers and the ISA should provide an exception to "National Treatment," which gives equal treatment to domestic and foreign parties, said NCBFAA.
CBP released its March 6 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 11). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent general notices and Court of International Trade decisions.
The addition of flavoring to alcoholic beverages following fermentation excludes them from a beer classification under heading 2203, said CBP in a recent internal advice ruling. The importer, Carriage House Imports, sought CBP input on the tariff classification on four types of Italian-made "spumante" malt beverages. CBP highlighted the ruling on its website, something it typically does for issues that come up frequently among importers. The internal advice ruling, HQ H209838, is (here).
Robert Mulligan was chosen by the U.S. Council for International Business (USCIB) to lead policy advocacy, said USCIB. Mulligan will also continue to run USCIB’s Washington office, said a USCIB spokesman. Mulligan takes over from Ronnie Goldberg, who is retiring, said USCIB.
The Food and Drug Administration said a guidance is available on administrative detention of food. The FDA updated a previous guidance to make it consistent with a recent final rule on administrative detention regulations. Under the final rule, FDA can order administrative detention if there is reason to believe that an article of food is adulterated or misbranded. Decisions on whether FDA has a “reason to believe” a food is adulterated or misbranded are made on a case-by- case basis because such decisions are fact specific. The guidance is here.
The Agricultural Marketing Service issued a final rule revising the standards for grades of almonds in the shell. The change would shift the basis from count to weight in the standards for determining the percentage of internal defects in an inspection sample of almonds in the shell. In addition to simplifying the grading process, AMS said, the weight basis would yield a more accurate percentage of internal defects. For example, due to its lower weight relative to a fully formed kernel, a shriveled kernel has a smaller impact on the percentage of internal defects when the sample is weighed rather than counted, AMS said. According to AMS, the revisions will "align the inspection procedures for incoming inspections (based on the marketing order) and outgoing inspections (based on the standards)," promoting greater uniformity and consistency with current marketing practices.
CBP is requesting comments by May 7 for an existing information collection on ship's stores declarations. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or to the information collected.
CBP is requesting comments by May 7 for an existing information collection for the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA). CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or to the information collected.