A California woman pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to Lacey Act violations and related charges of making false statements to CBP. Patty Chen, of Oakland, admitted to bringing in wildlife products including shark fins, shark fin noodles, sea horses, dried conch, dried fish and eel maw, valued at $29,760 from Ecuador into the United States. According to the June 2013 indictment in Florida Southern U.S. District Court, she twice arrived at Miami International Airport with wildlife, but declared on CBP form 6059B Customs Declaration that she was not transporting wildlife. The case was later transferred to the Northern California U.S. District Court, where Chen pleaded guilty. Chen, 67, is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
A group purporting to represent consumers filed yet another class action lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators for high formaldehyde emissions from the company’s wood flooring products. The Jan. 14 complaint brought by four people in Alabama, Virginia, and New York who bought wood flooring products from Lumber Liquidators follows two other similar lawsuits filed in late November and early December (see 13120432).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 2-6 in case they were missed.
Two class-action lawsuits have been filed against Lumber Liquidators in Eastern Virginia U.S. District Court seeking damages related to alleged Lacey Act and wood formaldehyde standard violations. Investor Gregg Kiken filed a securities fraud lawsuit against the company Nov. 27. About one week later, three law firms filed a class action suit on behalf of consumers who purchased wood flooring from Lumber Liquidators. Both suits are related to allegations that Lumber Liquidators sourced illegally logged Siberian wood from China, and that the wood had elevated levels of formaldehyde emissions despite being marked as compliant with California Air Resources Board regulations.
Faruqi & Faruqi is investigating "potential claims" against the Lumber Liquidators' board of directors by company shareholders over possible Lacey Act violations, the firm said in a press release. "The investigation concerns actions by Lumber Liquidators' Board of Directors that have caused the Company to allegedly violate the federal Lacey Act relating to the allegedly illegal importation of lumber from China and Russia," the press release said. ICE and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service executed a sealed search warrant on Sept. 26 at the company's Toana and Richmond, Va., corporate offices (see 13092716).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 7-11 in case they were missed.
The recently introduced Lacey Act Amendments Act of 2013 would grandfather any plant or plant product purchased before the enactment of the 2008 Lacey Act Amendments, relieving U.S. importers of considerable risk, said House Natural Resources Subcommittee Chairman Congressman John Fleming, R-La., through a press official. Congressman Fleming introduced the legislation on Oct. 9 (see 13101004). The legislation addresses the Lacey Act Amendments of 2008 and lower restrictions on:
Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 23-27 in case they were missed.
Federal authorities raided the corporate offices of Lumber Liquidators as part of an apparent investigation into the company's wood imports, Lumber Liquidators said in a Sept. 27 press release. ICE and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) executed a sealed search warrant on Sept. 26 at the company's Toana and Richmond, Va., corporate offices, the company said. The raid was reportedly related to potential Lacey Act violations, though no complaint has been filed.