Monsanto may substitute one type of chemical for the export of another type, said CBP's Entry Process and Duty Refunds Branch in an Aug. 17 ruling recently added to CBP's CROSS database. CBP said it considered the two products commercially interchangeable and eligible for unused merchandise drawback despite different levels of the active ingredient and different tariff classifications. Specifically, CBP found the chemicals met the criteria for being interchangeable under the drawback statute, 19 U.S.C. Section 1313(j)(2).
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.
CBP official Kevin McAleenan briefly touched on cargo screening in his Sept. 11 testimony before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security in a hearing on travel security since 9/11. McAleenan, CBP Deputy Assistant Commissioner Office of Field Operations, spoke of the National Targeting Center (NTC) and its new role. "A recent effort to make CBP passenger and cargo targeting more effective, the NTC was established as a stand-alone entity in the Office of Field Operations with greater responsibility for CBP passenger and cargo targeting operations at the port of entry," he said. "The NTC continues to improve its operations as DHS and CBP anti-terrorism targeting requirements expand by exploring new and innovative ways to identify, interdict or deter terrorists, their weapons and their supporters."
Granting Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status and repealing the Jackson-Vanick amendment, which limits trade with communist countries, is being held up by "presidential politics at this point," said Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), speaking at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association (NCBFAA) Government Affairs conference Sept. 11. Roskam, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, expects "that it will get done," but every day "we wait is a day that American companies are disadvantaged as they are pursuing the Russian marketplace," he said.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
The top two CBP officials, David Aguilar and Thomas Winkowski, received new titles to remain in compliance with federal statute, said a CBP official. Aguilar, previously acting commissioner, is now deputy commissioner and Winkowski, previously acting deputy commissioner, is now chief operating officer. The official descriptions of both men were updated Sept. 10 to reflect the title change. Aguilar's bio (here) now says he "served as acting commissioner Dec. 30, 2011-August 29, 2012," while Winkowski's (here) says he served during the same period as acting deputy commissioner.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mt.) referred the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Customs Evasion (ENFORCE) Act (S-3524) to the Senate calendar for a vote. The bill is meant to deter the evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders.
CBP won't go through with plans for a pilot that would waive local broker permitting requirements, said Elena Ryan, CBP's acting director, Trade Facilitation and Administration. Ryan spoke on a panel on rewriting broker regulations at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) Sept. 10. CBP previously said it was considering a pilot program that would waive the requirement to maintain a place of business within the district where customs business is being conducted.
CBP Los Angeles scheduled a trade forum on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), it said in a public bulletin. The trade forum is to provide up to date information on a number of topics on ACE. Email documents@brokerpower.com for a copy of the bulletin.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) should move to establish a certification program allowing for private sector canine explosive detection teams to help in air cargo screening, said a report from House Transportation Security Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). "Substantial delays are leading to a missed opportunity to expand canine resources, create private sector jobs and leverage the private sector toward better air cargo security," the report said. "TSA needs to finalize its efforts to develop a certification program for private companies to enable them to use their own canines, certified to TSA standards, to meet federal air cargo screening mandates. Leveraging private sector resources will introduce much-needed additional canines into the cargo screening system."
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee scheduled a Sept. 19 mark-up of the Increasing American Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act (S-2215).