FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission has extended its e-filing “beta” pilot another two months, allowing filing to continue for 37 importers and 21 customs brokers participating in the pilot until mid-June, said Sabrina Keller, deputy director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, on April 16. The pilot had been scheduled to end April 16 without the extension, she said, speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference. Six months in, the commission has “a lot of good data and a lot of good information,” she said.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “hopefully” publish its notice launching Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement “in the next two-ish months,” said Erin Otto, of the agency’s Lacey Act program, on April 16. That will trigger a six-month countdown until full enforcement of Phase VII, which covers all non-composite plant products that Lacey Act requirements haven't previously covered.
The House Ways and Means Committee is set on April 17 to consider several just-introduced trade bills, including a retroactive extension of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, new restrictions on de minimis and restrictions on electric vehicle tax credits.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Just weeks after the Agricultural Marketing Service's rules on import filing and certification requirements for organic goods took effect March 19 (see 2402270052), the agency is still facing the problem of "many uncertified importers," but "we're making good progress," said Jennifer Tucker, deputy director of USDA's National Organics Program, on April 16.
'Head Scratching' Likely After D&D Rule in Effect; Changed Broker Terms Possible, NCBFAA Lawyer Says
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The effective date for the Federal Maritime Commission's new rule on detention and demurrage may not provide a long enough "runway" for industry to prepare, given that it's a "systemic alteration" of how the industry operates, said Ashley Craig of Venable. He said he suspects there will be a lot of "head scratching" after the rule becomes effective on May 28 (see 2402230049).
The Federal Maritime Commission's enforcement bureau is asking the agency's administrative law judge to fine major ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company $63.2 million for violating U.S. shipping regulations. MSC used “overbroad” merchant clauses in its bills of lading, billed incorrect rates for certain containers and failed to publish certain container tariff rates, causing "obscurity" and "uncertainty" for shippers, the commission's Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance said in an April 3 report.
A bill that directs the Biden administration to promulgate rules within 18 months to require data submissions for de minimis importers was introduced April 9 by Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., called the Ensure Accountability in De Minimis Act.
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CBP is implementing cargo messaging to communicate with the entry filer on shipments that have "vague noncompliant cargo descriptions," the agency said in an April 1 CSMS message.
The U.S. brought a customs penalty suit against importer E-Dong U.S.A. for failure to pay federal excise tax on entries of soju bottles from South Korea. Filing a complaint March 28 at the Court of International Trade, the government said that the company entered the soju, a Korean spirit, via "material or false statement" by failing to reference any of the owed excise tax (U.S. v. E-Dong, U.S.A., CIT # 24-00066).