CBP is seeking participants in a new working group to inform its development of the Automated Commercial Environment for non-Lacey Act commodities regulated by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The working group will comprise members of APHIS-related industry, software developers, and APHIS and CBP representatives, said CBP in a CSMS message (here). Participants will review data elements required in the APHIS partner government agency message set in ACE, as well as the impact of the transition to ACE on business processes. The working group will hold two three-hour conference calls per week for four weeks. Importers and software developers interested in participating should email the relevant CBP and trade community working group leads by April 16, said CBP (here).
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International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 30 - April 3 in case they were missed.
A Texas company has been charged with Lacey Act violations for falsely claiming shrimp it imported from Mexico was caught in U.S. waters, said the Justice Department on March 31 (here). According to DOJ, Garcia Shrimp bought 35,000 pounds of Mexican shrimp, and upon arrival it removed the “Mexico labels” from the packages and attached new ones saying the shrimp was caught in U.S. waters. The company also created “false records and bills of lading to make it appear that the shrimp was caught by a U.S.-flagged fishing vessel,” DOJ alleged. The seafood was eventually sold to a New Orleans-based seafood distributor for $120,800, said DOJ. If convicted, Garcia Shrimp faces a fine of $500,000 and five years of probation.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is now “actively” investigating laminate flooring products from Lumber Liquidators, according to a statement from CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye (here). The commission will test samples of the company’s flooring products for formaldehyde content, and is “coordinating closely” with other federal agencies in the investigation, said Kaye. Lumber Liquidators is also under investigation from the Justice Department for Lacey Act violations (see 1502250067), and defending against several class action lawsuits related to formaldehyde content in its laminate flooring (see 13120432 and 14012223). The company was the subject of an investigative report that aired March 1 on "60 Minutes" (here).
CBP posted filing instructions within the Automated Commercial Environment for more participating government agencies (see1503090013) :
The Department of Justice is considering seeking criminal charges against Lumber Liquidators for Lacey Act violations, said Lumber Liquidators in its annual “10-K” report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 25 (here). ICE and the Fish and Wildlife Service executed a search warrant at the company’s corporate offices in late 2013 seeking information on the company’s imported wood flooring (see 13092716).
The transition of cargo release to the Automated Commercial Environment in November is going to be marked by a transition period that will require some heavy lifting from the trade community, said CBP officials at a National Association Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ) seminar on Feb. 10. While CBP hopes to get everyone to the point where they can exchange electronic messages, it remains to be decided how automation will work at the operational level for entities like terminal operators, truck drivers, and container freight stations that currently stamp paper, said James Swanson, CBP director-cargo security and controls.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 2-6 in case they were missed.
Twenty more tariff lines in chapters 44, 82, 94, and 96 are set to become subject to enforcement of Lacey Act import declaration requirements, as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service begins the next phase of enforcement in August. The addition of the new tariff lines marks the fifth phase of Lacey Act declaration enforcement, according to an APHIS Federal Register notice (here). APHIS is giving importers six months until Aug. 6 before it begins requiring declarations on the new products. The agency will accept comments until April 7 on the products covered by Phase V, as well as any other tariff lines that should be included. The current list of products set for enforcement beginning on Aug. 6 is as follows:
President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal revives a previously-floated but unapproved plan to consolidate some federal trade agencies into one agency, and the two largest food safety agencies into one shop as well, the White House said in its budget release on Feb. 2 (here). The budget proposal asks Congress to give the White House more power to unilaterally make consolidations and cuts. Obama has asked for that consolidation authority several times over recent years (see 12021417).