CBP is planning to conduct the next Trade Support Network Plenary Session on Feb. 26-28, it said in a CSMS message. Those interested shouldn't make travel arrangements until it issues a later message to confirm these dates, it said. More agenda information will be provided then, said CBP.
CBP Los Angeles/Long Beach is updating its port procedures for the disposition of merchandise refused by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it said in a public bulletin dated Dec. 21. The bulletin also notified the public that the Federal Destruction and Redelivery Team (Team FDR) will process documentation on FDA refused merchandise, it said.
The Food and Drug Administration will now accept electronic versions of private laboratory reports, said CBP in a CSMS message. Electronic submission is preferred, though the FDA will still accept hard copies. The FDA intends to automate its analytical reports review processes, said the CSMS message. Once that's accomplished, FDA will be able to process private laboratory analytical reports submitted via electronic means in less time than is needed to process private laboratory analytical reports submitted in hard copy forms, it said. To avoid potential delays, private laboratory analytical reports should be submitted electronically, said CBP.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
Eli Lilly agreed to pay over $29 million without admitting or denying allegations that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through improper payments to foreign government officials to win millions of dollars of business in Russia, Brazil, China, and Poland, said the Securities and Exchange Commission in a press release. Eli Lilly used a Russian subsidiary to pay millions of dollars to third parties chosen by government customers or distributors that rarely provided any services and in some cases funneled money to government officials, according to the SEC complaint against the pharmaceutical company. Transactions with offshore or government-affiliated entities did not receive specialized or closer review for possible FCPA violations, said the SEC. Paperwork was accepted at face value and little was done to assess whether the terms or circumstances surrounding a transaction suggested the possibility of foreign bribery, it said.
CBP posted an importation advisory saying mandarin or “Christmas” oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, and pomelos are banned from non-commercial import into the U.S. “Typically we see an influx of “Christmas Oranges” around the holiday season, and when Canadian citizens travel to southern states for the winter,” said Great Falls Area Port Director Daniel Escobedo in a press release.
CBP Miami scheduled two seminars on the Valentine's Day cut flower peak season plan for 2013, it said in an information bulletin. The seminars are to be Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the CBP Cargo Clearance Center conference room 264 6601 N.W. 25th St. Miami, Florida.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Dec. 20 with 375 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 175,239. The most recent ruling is dated 12/19/2012.
CBP will continue to accept applications to its Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) pilot program though Jan. 8, said a Federal Register notice. The agency received a number of requests for extensions for submitting applications and experienced technical difficulties with the email box set up for the ACAS pilot. it said. Any applicants who have not received a response from CBP will need to resubmit their applications, the notice said. The original deadline for applicants was Nov. 23.
CBP released its Dec. 19 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 52). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent Court of International Trade decisions.