Brian Feito

The next phase of Lacey Act implementation by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin Oct. 1, APHIS said in a notice released July 1. Phase VI subjects 27 new tariff lines to Lacey Act declaration requirements. The agency had originally planned the new requirements for October 2020 before delaying due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2008190010).

CBP should incorporate several types of bonds not currently included into the agency’s electronic eBond system, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee said in recommendations adopted at the COAC’s June 23 meeting. These bond types include Department of Transportation (DOT) bonds, International Trade Commission (ITC) bonds and intellectual property rights (IPR) bonds, the COAC said.

CBP will exempt some filers from the requirement to file a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading on low value shipments that do not have PGA requirements once it finalizes new data elements for Section 321 shipments, Brandon Lord, acting CBP executive director-trade policy and programs, said at the June 23 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.

CBP will “soon” provide more information on who is participating in a task force of industry representatives and government officials developing a new customs legislative framework as part of CBP’s 21st Century Customs Framework, said Garrett Wright, who leads the effort as director of trade modernization at CBP’s Office of Trade.

CBP no longer plans to move forward with an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on risk-based bonding that had been under discussion by the agency, but it still plans to implement risk-based bonding “by leveraging existing authorities and completing several initiatives,” it said in a document released ahead of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting scheduled for June 23.

AnnMarie Highsmith is the new executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, the agency said in a June 21 press release. Highsmith had previously been CBP deputy chief counsel since 2013, the release said. John Leonard, who had been acting executive assistant commissioner and was executive director of the CBP Office of Trade's Trade Policy and Programs operations, will take over as deputy executive assistant commissioner, CBP said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 15 affirmed without opinion a lower court ruling that found women’s trousers made of a yarn extruded from a slurry that contained zinc nanoparticles are not classifiable in the tariff schedule as if they were made from metallized yarn. The appeals court’s Rule 36 judgment follows oral argument held Oct. 10 in the case, appealed by Lockhart Textiles. The decision is non-precedential, and contains no explanation.

Regulatory agencies with import authorities listed several new rules in their first regulatory agenda since the arrival in office of President Joe Biden. New rulemakings listed by the agencies include new restrictions on chemicals, a slate of regulatory amendments related to Section 232 investigations, and a new proposal on administrative destruction of medical devices refused entry.

Cabinets with moveable shelves installed after importation meet the criteria of a scope exclusion for medicine cabinets from the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on wooden cabinets and vanities from China (A-570-106/C-570-107), including that they are assembled at the time of entry, and are not subject to AD/CV duties, the Commerce Department said in a June 11 scope ruling.

Importers must file protests to preserve their ability to obtain refunds under exclusions from Section 301 tariffs, the Court of International Trade said in a June 11 decision. Dismissing a lawsuit from importers ARP Materials and Harrison Steel Castings, Judge Miller Baker found the court did not have jurisdiction to hear their challenge since the importers did not timely file protests of the CBP liquidations assessing the Section 301 duties.