Importers of cannabis-related goods should seek customs rulings to "interpret the laws of every State that has repealed prior prohibitions" pertaining to cannabis paraphernalia to better facilitate the importation of these goods, law firm Neville Peterson said in a blog post.

Correction: The Court of International Trade issued 191 decisions in 2006 (see 2312280038), a pace it equaled in 2023 with a decision issued Dec. 29 in Navneet Education v. U.S.

A ban on imports of Apple watches is on hold, after the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Dec. 27 granted Apple's bid for an interim stay of the International Trade Commission's import ban in a patent dispute concerning the watches' medical monitoring technology (Apple Inc. v. U.S. International Trade Commission, Fed. Cir. # 24-1285).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the weeks of Dec. 4-10, 11-17 and 18-24.

Thirteen Khmer antiquities linked to art dealer Douglas Latchford are being returned to Cambodia, DOJ announced last week. The now-deceased Latchford was previously indicted for leading a scheme to sell "looted Cambodian antiquities on the international art market." In the indictment, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York alleged that Latchford sold the goods via false statements and fake provenance documents (see 2201110078). The items, which were housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were repatriated by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Homeland Security Investigations New York Field Office.

Furniture company Homestar North America will pay $798,334 to settle charges that it violated the False Claims Act by underreporting the value of its Chinese imports to avoid customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced. Of the total penalty, $151,683 will go to the whistleblower in the action: Larry Edwards, a logistics and warehouse manager who worked for Homestar for a short stint in 2020.

Dallas-based importer ADCO Industries, also known as Dallco Marketing, settled charges that it violated the False Claims Act by avoiding customs duties on Chinese industrial product imports, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced. The company agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle the whistleblower action, with $500,000 going to whistleblowers Donald Reznicek and Collen McFarland.

Ghacham Inc., a Paramount, California-based wholesale clothing company operating under the Platini brand, was ordered to pay a $4 million fine and nearly $6.4 million in restitution for undervaluing its garment imports to avoid paying millions of dollars in customs duties, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Dec. 8. The penalty, which also includes a five-year probationary period, was also levied for Ghacham's work with a woman tied to Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3:

German company KingKong-Tools GmbH & Co KG, along with its American subsidiary King Kong Tools, will pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations of customs fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. The office alleged that King Kong falsely said its tool imports were made in Germany when they were made in China, misrepresenting their country of origin in violation of the False Claims Act.