The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice stating that, effective May 17, 2004, the above-listed Romania quotas were adjusted for swing, special shift, carryover, and the recrediting of unused carryforward.
The Journal of Commerce Online (JoC Online) reports that Hong Kong will insist on full electronic submission of air and rail cargo manifests by mid-July 2004. According to the report, there will be a further grace period for submission of ocean and river cargo manifests. JoC Online explains that Hong Kong introduced e-filing for air, rail, river, and ocean transport in April 2003, with a grace period to be determined by progress in the changeover. (JoC Online Pub 05/17/04, www.joc.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that it is delaying the installation of programming changes for enforcement of the Bioterrorism Act's Prior Notice (PN) requirements in its automated systems that were scheduled to become effective the morning of May 19, 2004. CBP states that these changes would have made failure to submit all mandatory PN data elements a cause for rejection by the Automated Broker Interface (ABI).
The Commerce Department's Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) has issued its March 2004 Textiles and Apparel Import Report, which includes statistics on general imports (both quota and non-quota) of cotton, wool, man-made fiber, silk blend, and non-cotton vegetable fiber textiles and apparel.
According to U.S. government sources, on May 10, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began documentation exams of certain entries of knit-to-shape garments in HTS 6110 which claim a country of origin other than China (i.e., that the garment's panels are knit-to-shape in a country other than China and then sent to China to be linked and looped).
The House Select Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security (Subcommittee) held a hearing on May 12, 2004 to examine the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) progress in enhancing security in U.S. transportation systems.
In the May 12, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 20), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to revoke a classification ruling on a men's cotton denim woven shirt-jacket, and (b) proposing to revoke a classification ruling regarding certain chef's coats. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
| Eff 05/17/04 FR Pub 05/17/04 The State Department has issued a public notice announcing that it has certified 38 nations and one economy as meeting the requirements set by Section 609 of P.L. 101-162 for continued export of shrimp to the U.S. As a result, these nations and economy may continue to export shrimp and shrimp products to the U.S. According to the State Department, effective May 1, 2004, imports from any nation not certified are prohibited pursuant to Section 609, unless certain requirements are met (see below). The Journal of Commerce (JoC) reports that the Clinton-era Marine Transportation Policy (MTS) has become the springboard the still developing SEA-21, a Department of Transportation initiative that could address intercoastal shipping, inland waterways, congestion, security, and the U.S.' capacity to handle rapidly growing volumes of containerized imports. JoC reports that at this time, federal officials are not disclosing many details of SEA-21. (JoC Pub 04/05-11/04, www.joc.com) |