On January 15, 2004, President Bush issued Executive Order (EO) 13324, effective 12:01 a.m. EST on January 16, 2004. EO 13324 terminates the national emergency which was originally declared in EO 13194 (Sierra Leone) and the scope of which was expanded in EO 13213 (Liberia). (FR Pub 01/20/04, available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/pdf/04-1322.pdf)
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a press release on the FDA's and U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) second import "blitz" on foreign drug shipments.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing its determination that Benin (1) has adopted an effective visa system and related procedures to prevent unlawful transshipment and the use of counterfeit documents in connection with shipments of textile and apparel articles, and (2) has implemented and follows, or is making substantial progress toward implementing and following, the customs procedures required by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This determination is effective January 28, 2004.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice designating the Resources Company for Development and Investment Zone (RCDI), the Al Hallabat Industrial Park, and the expanded Al Tajamouat Industrial Park as qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) from which goods, including textiles and apparel, may enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act (IFTA Act).
The ITA states that the final determination in this investigation is currently due April 5, 2004.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site certain new and updated Trade Support Network (TSN) committee Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user requirement recommendations and ACE Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message drafts.
According to government sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been conducting "targeted" documentation exams on selected textile and apparel shipments for over a year now, and is continuing to do so. To date, CBP has found numerous cases where counterfeit documents were used in an attempt to circumvent quota.
According to government sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is planning to conduct a "document accuracy test" of textiles and apparel that are entered as quota-free and visa-free using entry type '01.'
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated antidumping (AD) duty investigations of certain frozen and canned warmwater shrimp from Brazil, Ecuador, India, Thailand, China, and Vietnam.