The White House has posted remarks by the Vice President at the swearing-in of former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as U.S. Trade Representative on March 20, 2009. In his remarks, the Vice President emphasized that the USTR's mission is to blaze a trail beyond our borders and come up with innovative ways for our trade policies to inspire a new environment of basic fairness. (Vice President's remarks, dated 03/20/09, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-Vice-President-Biden-at-the-Swearing-in-of-United-States-Representative-Ron-Kirk/.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has made available through a recent Webinar1 a March 17, 2009 PowerPoint presentation containing updated information on the Lacey Act Amendments declaration requirement for imported plant and plant products.
CBP Issues Sample Message Sets for Lacey Act Amendments Data (Phase II Enforcement Begins April 1st)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted examples of PGA CATAIR Chapter message sets using the HI, HN and EI applications, that CBP will accept for entries that contain the Lacey Act Amendments declaration data for imported plants and plant products.
CBP has posted a presentation providing an update on ESAR A2.2 (the Initial Entry Summary Types release) and A2.3.1 (the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), Antidumping/Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) release) that was given at the March 3-4, 2009 Trade Support Network meeting. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/04/09 news, 09030425 4, for BP summary of other documents from the March TSN meeting.) (See future issue of ITT for details.) (Presentation, posted 03/06/09, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/automated/modernization/trade_support_network/session_highlights/march_2009_tsn/esar_update.ctt/esar_update.pdf)
CBP has issued its weekly tariff rate quota (TRQ) and tariff preference level (TPL) commodity report as of March 2, 2009. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, tobacco, certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (Weekly commodity report available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
On February 25, 2009 the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) sent a letter to President Obama advocating a "stimulus package for trade."
Sources at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and a recent National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) webinar have provided an update on using the new Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) chapter1 containingthe Participating Government Agencies (PGA) data set for submitting the Lacey Act Amendments declaration for imported plants and plant products.
The Port of Los Angeles has issued a press release on the February 18, 2009 start of its collection of a Clean Truck Fee for the Clean Trucks Program (CTP). (News release, dated 02/18/09, available at http://www.portoflosangeles.org/newsroom/2009_releases/news_021809_ctp.asp)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS regarding the new Participating Government Agencies Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) chapter that it recently posted to its Web site.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has published a notice announcing revisions to its enforcement phase-in plan for the Lacey Act Amendment declaration requirement for imported plants and plant products, provided information on its exemptions, etc.