The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that it has initiated a review of and is soliciting public comment by August 25, 2006 on the designation of East Timor for the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. According to the notice, the USTR will determine if East Timor meets the eligibility criteria of the GSP program and should be designated as a GSP least-developed beneficiary developing country (LDBDC).
On July 27, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8039 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BFTA), etc.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice announcing that the Customs Electronic Bulletin Board (CEBB) has been retired and all valid materials have been migrated to updated systems, including cbp.gov. CBP's notice notes certain new locations for various information, as the CEBB page itself will be retired on September 30, 2006. (CBP notice, undated, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_trade/cebb_linklist.xml)
The 'security counsel' column of The Journal of Commerce questions whether the C-TPAT Mandatory Portal will leave the "partnership" behind and regress to a version of the "automate or perish" days of Commissioner William Von Raab. The column speculates that the days of a voluntary trade security program may be numbered given the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) critical reports on C-TPAT and the installation of an enforcement-grounded commissioner. (JoC, dated 07/10/06, www.joc.com )
On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8034 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Guatemala.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has announced the opportunity to submit petitions for the 2006 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Product and Country Eligibility Practices Review (2006 Annual GSP Review).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum on applying its earlier instructions on the filing and acceptance of claims for preferential tariff treatment of goods made under the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) to Guatemala.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has posted to its Web site an updated version of the 2006 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTS) dated July 1, 2006 (Supplement 1).
On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8033 to "modify duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences".
On June 30, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8034 to amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), etc., to implement the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) for Guatemala.