CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
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.
Criminal convictions and prosecutions based on customs duty violations fell in FY 2012 compared to the previous year, according to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Convictions for FY 2012 (Oct. 1 2011-Sept. 30 2012), fell 12.5 percent from a year ago, while prosecutions in FY 2012 dropped 44.4 percent, according to TRAC. TRAC, run out of Syracuse University, acquires the data through Freedom of Information Act requests to each U.S. Attorney's Office, which are required to keep detailed records on the work of federal prosecutors. Despite some recent high-profile criminal cases, including the prosecution of San Diego Customs Association President Gerardo Chavez, the TRAC data show a long-term decline in criminal prosecutions and convictions for customs duty violations.
CBP's Boston field office is revising its procedures of entry deletion and cancellation requests to "advance uniform national procedures throughout" CBP, it said in a Jan. 24 public information notice (PIN). The changes are effective immediately, the PIN said.
CBP officers and import specialists at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport complex seized 5,101 tablet computers containing electrical adapters with counterfeit ETL Listed Mark (ETL) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety markings, said CBP in a press release. CBP officers discovered the infringing merchandise in a shipment arriving from China. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $898,328 with a domestic value of $691,745. Seized were 4,705 nine-inch and 396 seven-inch tablets with chargers.
Strasburger & Price hired international trade lawyer Margaret Johnson in its San Antonio office, the firm said in a press release.
CBP will offer training on NAFTA at a North Dakota high school Feb. 15, the agency said. Training will cover completion of the NAFTA certificate of origin, NAFTA qualifying operations, tariff shift, regional value content, and record keeping requirements. The training will also cover U.S. Goods Returned requirements and Automated Cargo Environment ACE entry filing. The NAFTA training will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Pembina High School, 155 South 3rd Street, Pembina, N.D.
CBP posted a record of changes for January to the ACE ABI CATAIR (Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements). The changes were to Appendix G (ACE ABI Condition Codes and Narrative Text), the ACE ABI CATAIR Error Dictionary, and the Entry Summary Create/Update chapter. The change log is (here). The full CATAIR is (here). The Appendix G is (here). The ACE ABI CATAIR Error Dictionary is (here). The Entry Summary Create/Update Chapter is (here).
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
CBP issued a final rule to revise its procedures for publishing notice of seized property and intent to forfeit and sell (or otherwise dispose of), to allow for publication on an official Government forfeiture website (www.forfeiture.gov). CBP said the change would save about $700,000 per year in print advertising costs and improve the effectiveness of CBP’s notice procedures, as Internet publication would reach a broader range of the public and provide access to more parties who may have an interest in the seized property. The rule will be effective Feb. 28
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues: