The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements determined that certain three-layered composite fabric is not available in commercial quantities in Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement countries, and is adding the fabric to the CAFTA-DR to the list at Annex 3.25 of the agreement in unrestricted quantities. This fabric may now be sourced from outside CAFTA-DR countries for use in CAFTA-DR qualifying textile and apparel products. VF Corp. asked for the commercial availability determination, and no interested parties responded to the request. Specifications for the fabric are as follows:
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The International Trade Administration set a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness for March 12 in Washington, D.C. The meeting will be open to the public. The committee will discuss organizational and administrative issues including ethics and privacy requirements, and select a chairperson for the committee. The Committee will also consider current issues impacting the U.S. supply chain, which include trade and competitiveness, freight movement and policy, information technology and data requirements, regulatory issues, and finance and infrastructure. A full agenda will be here. Comments for consideration at the meeting are due by March 5.
The Bureau of Industry and Security said its Transportation and Related Equipment Technical Advisory Committee scheduled a partially open meeting March 7 in Washington, D.C. The committee advises the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration on technical questions that affect the level of export controls applicable to transportation and related equipment or technology. During the open session, the committee will hear status reports by working group chairs. The open session will be accessible via teleconference to 20 participants on a first come, first served basis. Requests to join the conference are due by Feb. 28 to Yvette Springer at Yvette.Springer@bis.doc.gov. A limited number of seats will also be available during the public session.
The major cuts to government spending that would occur if sequestration comes to fruition would create major problems for CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, among others, said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Napolitano conveyed her concerns in a letter responding to House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who asked about how sequestration, set to take effect March 1, would affect DHS. Sequestration would "increase wait times at our Nation's land ports of entry and airports" and "affect aviation and maritime safety and security," she said in the letter (here).
The National Organic Standards Board will meet April 9-11 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. each day, said the Agricultural Marketing Service. Public comments are due by March 19 and the meeting will take place at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower, 921 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Feb. 11. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, 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, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
All continuous or term Airport Security bonds must be submitted to the Revenue Division Bond Team, CBP.BONDQUESTIONS@DHS.GOV, in order to be processed into the Automated Commercial Environment, said CBP in a CSMS message. An Airport Security bond is not considered valid until it has been reviewed and processed into ACE by the Revenue Division Bond Team, the agency said. If the Airport Security Bond is filed using the CBP Form 301, it is considered a continuous bond and if the Airport Security Bond is filed using the CFR 19, part 113, Appendix A language, the bond is considered a term bond, which has beginning and ending dates.
CBP released its Feb. 13 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 8). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent general notices and Court of International Trade decisions.
CBP released its Feb. 7 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 7). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent general notices.
CBP and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) investigators seized multiple shipments of toys imported into San Juan, Puerto Rico, containing levels of lead that exceed legal limits, said CBP in a press release. The total domestic value for the shipments of nearly 30,000 toys is estimated to be more than $335,000, said CBP. The shipments were targeted by the CBP Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center.