Greta Peisch is departing her job as general counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and USTR Katherine Tai announced Juan Millan will serve as acting general counsel. The general counsel position must be Senate-confirmed.
Ian Saunders began his job as the new secretary general of the World Customs Organization, the organization said Jan. 3. Nominated by CBP, Saunders was elected to the position in June (see 2306260031). He was previously a deputy assistant secretary at the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration.
The Federal Maritime Commission hired David Eng as the agency's new secretary. Eng, who most recently worked as a branch chief at the Departmental Appeals Board of the Department of Health and Human Services, will process Shipping Act complaints and communications submitted to the FMC, maintain records of meetings, and conduct other clerical activities on behalf of the commission.
Chandri Navarro, former partner at Hogan Lovells, joined Baker McKenzie as senior counsel in the North America International Commercial and Trade Practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced. Navarro, who worked at Hogan Lovells for over 20 years, is a Customs and International Trade Bar Association board member and an American Bar Foundation fellow.
USDA promoted Michael Watson to administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the agency said in a news release Dec. 20. Watson had been associate administrator since 2018, and served as acting administrator on “several occasions,” USDA said. The agency also named Georgette Furukawa chief of staff for the Agricultural Marketing Service. Furukawa previously was an adviser to the White House chief of staff's Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander team.
Christa Brzozowski is now DHS assistant secretary for trade and economic security, she said during the Dec. 13 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee. Brzozowski, previously senior manager of public policy at Amazon, had prior to that spent time at CBP and DHS, most recently as DHS deputy assistant secretary for foreign investment and trade policy.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative moved Bryant Trick from acting assistant to assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East, it said in a Dec. 11 news release. Prior to taking on the acting role in September, Trick, who has been at USTR for over 15 years, was deputy assistant USTR for Korea, USTR said.
Ted Sherman joined Hasbro as senior director for global trade compliance, he said in a post on LinkedIn. Sherman, who sits on the American Association of Exporters and Importers executive committee, was previously at Medtronic and Target.
Laura Murphy, director of the forced labor lab at Sheffield Hallam University that identified many of the goods now targeted under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, has joined DHS as a policy adviser to Robert Silvers, undersecretary for strategy, policy and plans.
Cindy Allen relaunched her consulting firm Trade Force Multiplier, following her recent departure from her role as vice president of regulatory affairs and compliance at FedEx Logistics (see 2309070056). Trade Force Multiplier offers “a range of services,” including “identifying company and compliance risks utilizing data analysis,” advising on trade-related investments and merger and acquisition activity, and providing “governmental agency and legislative insights and engagement services,” according to the new firm’s website. Allen, who previously led CBP’s ACE Business Office, formed a consultancy under the same name prior to joining FedEx (see 1510210076).