Brian Feito

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

CBP has yet to release a single shipment detained under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act since the law took effect in June, a CBP official recently told online news and commentary site The Dispatch in an interview. Eric Choy, acting executive director of CBP’s Trade Remedy Law Enforcement Directorate, said the agency has yet to receive a request for UFLPA exception for goods from or connected to China’s Xinjiang region, though companies have attempted to demonstrate that detained goods are not from or tied to Xinjiang.

Imported jewelry that is held on consignment by retailers but never sold is eligible for substitution unused merchandise drawback, CBP said in a ruling released Oct. 3. Though customers of the retailers may try on the jewelry, that doesn’t constitute use of the jewelry for its intended purpose, and the importer retains title to the unsold jewelry unless sold, CBP said in ruling HQ H292054.

FDA has issued its Enforcement Report for Sept. 28, listing the status of recalls and field corrections for food, cosmetics, tobacco products, drugs, biologics and devices. The report covers both domestic and foreign firms.

FDA is proposing new requirements for when the term “healthy” can be used as a claim on food labeling. The proposed rule, published in the Sept. 29 Federal Register, would modify current general criteria for using the term “healthy” by moving to a food-specific approach, and would set new recordkeeping requirements where compliance can’t be verified with information on the product label, FDA said.

International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

Despite sales terms to the contrary, a Hong Kong middleman never held title to merchandise imported from China and Taiwan into the U.S., so “first sale” valuation is unavailable and the goods should be valued at the price paid by the importer, CBP said in a recent ruling. Incoterms aside, the importer paid for freight and insurance, and title transferred alongside risk of loss directly from the manufacturer to the importer, with the middleman acting more as agent, CBP said in HQ H316892.

FDA has issued its Enforcement Report for Sept. 21, listing the status of recalls and field corrections for food, cosmetics, tobacco products, drugs, biologics and devices. The report covers both domestic and foreign firms.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is setting new procedures for claiming Craft Beverage Modernization Act tax reductions beginning in 2023. The agency’s temporary rule implements the transfer of authority to administer CBMA provisions from CBP to TTB, and creates a new system wherein importers will claim refunds retroactively each quarter, rather than at time of entry. Producer registration, assignment of credits and importer claims will all be filed in the agency’s myTTB online system and tied to data filed in ACE at entry.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service hopes to begin implementation of its seventh and penultimate phase of Lacey Act declaration requirements toward the end of 2023, the agency’s Erin Otto said Sept. 19, speaking at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington. Otto said APHIS hopes to complete phase seven implementation in the summer of 2024, at which point the agency will pivot to the final phase eight.