Importers who use USMCA have been hoping for a technical fix bill so that merchandise processing fees can be refunded when post-entry claims are made, but the prospects of getting the bill done in the first six months of the treaty seem to be fading. “I haven’t had any discussions with [Oregon Democrat Sen. Ron] Wyden on this subject,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said of the committee's ranking member. He also said he doesn't know if there continues to be opposition to unanimous consent to the technical fixes.

Leather and other components from China used to make footwear in Ethiopia satisfy the double substantial transformation requirement to be counted toward the 35% content requirement for African Growth and Opportunity Act treatment, CBP said in an Aug. 18 ruling. The footwear was entered with a Special Indicator “D” for AGOA but CBP at the time denied the AGOA treatment. The importer, VCS Group, pursued a further review of protest over the decision.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service is adopting as final an overhaul of its regulations on eggs and egg products, including provisions on imports. Many of the changes align the FSIS egg product regulations with current requirements for meat and poultry, FSIS said. Egg product processing plants will now have to implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems and sanitation standard operating procedures (SOP). The proposed rule also streamlines egg product labeling regulations, and adds new provisions on imports, including on marking, procedures for imports refused entry and re-importation of egg products returned from foreign countries.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 19-23 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

CBP’s forced labor operations are being undermined by staff shortages that have resulted in investigations being suspended or not conducted at all, as well as a failure by CBP to conduct reviews of withhold release orders unless prodded by importers, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued Oct. 27.

CBP is seeking public comment on whether to impose continuing education requirements on licensed customs brokers, it said in a notice released Oct. 27. The notice, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, is the latest development in the long-discussed idea of adding such requirements (see 2002130025). CBP's notice goes over a number of possible scenarios for how continuing education could be administered and asks for input on a wide range of operational questions.

CBP is planning to “streamline its current process on the forfeiture and disposition of seized merchandise” valued at less than $2,500, the agency told the Government Accountability Office in response to a GAO report. The GAO recommended in its report that CBP take a faster enforcement approach to counterfeit goods in small packages. CBP agreed with the recommendation and said a new policy is estimated to be in place by Jan. 29.

CBP issued a CSMS message Oct. 26 announcing changes to the tariff schedule to implement a recent proclamation amending safeguard duties on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, including the elimination of an exemption for bifacial panels (see 2010130028). The announcement came despite a last-minute court order blocking the proclamation’s withdrawal of the bifacial panel exclusion. The CSMS message does not mention the court order. A CBP spokesperson said the agency "is in the process of issuing additional guidance on this subject." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Justice Department didn’t comment.

Law firm Husch Blackwell has no objection to a Department of Justice proposal to designate the first-filed HMTX Industries-Jasco Products complaint as a test case in the massive Section 301 litigation, but “there is no reason that it should be chosen as the only test case without further analysis,” it said Oct. 22 in a partial opposition to the government’s Oct. 19 motion for case management procedures (see 2010200022). It told the Court of International Trade that it represents 75 “individually named plaintiffs” of the “approximately 6000 plus” importers seeking to vacate the lists 3 and 4A tariff rulemakings and get the duties refunded.

FBB Federal Relations partner Ray Bucheger told members of the Pacific Coast Council of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Associations that while the message on the Hill is discouraging on extending current Section 301 exclusions, his firm is working on legislation for the companies that received exclusions too late to get refunds for the tariffs paid.