The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss, and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on, various customs and trade issues.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued messages on a number of antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty actions, many of which (marked by an * in the action column) were previously published in the Federal Register by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and summarized in International Trade Today.

In the February 11, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 7), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to revoke two classification rulings on certain aluminum compounds and salt, (b) modifying or revoking three classification rulings on certain electronic hang tags, and (c) modifying or revoking classification rulings on men's swimwear. CBP states that it is also revoking, or proposing to revoke, any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.

According to The Wall Street Journal, pressures are building within China's economy to re-examine the Chinese currency's tether on the U.S. dollar, with a loosening looking more like a matter of when, rather than if. The U.S., the European Union and other trading partners have urged China to let the yuan float, contending that the currency is undervalued and fueling a predatory export boom. (WSJ 02/13/04, www.wsj.com )

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has posted to its Web site a notice detailing its next upcoming informational seminar entitled, Navigating the Regulations, which will be held in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico on March 9, 2004. The FMC states that this seminar provides an overview of the responsibilities of vessel operators, ocean transportation intermediaries (OTIs) and maritime shipping services users in U.S. foreign trades.

Broker Power has previously reported that, effective from February 2, 2004 through April 30, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is detaining or sending to a laboratory for testing, importations of socks from at most 22 targeted countries, in order to verify their country of origin.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a press release announcing that on February 9, 2004, the EPA Administrator joined 52 freight shippers and carriers to promote the SmartWay Transport Partnership (SmartWay). The EPA has also posted information on SmartWay to its Web site.

On May 20, 2003, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued a proposed rule to require imported solid wood packing material (SWPM) to be either heat treated or fumigated with methyl bromide, as well as marked, prior to importation, in accordance with an international standard entitled "Guidelines for Regulating Wood Packaging Material in International Trade" that was approved by the Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) on March 15, 2002.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message correcting two previously issued messages on the upcoming ABI system requirements for filing U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (UCFTA) and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SFTA) claims.