U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published in the Federal Register three separate notices announcing the following:
On March 30, 2004, the Supreme Court decided that the U.S. government's authority to conduct suspicionless inspections at the border includes the authority to remove, disassemble, and reassemble a vehicle's fuel tank in order to search for terrorist weapons, drugs, and other contraband without the need to obtain a warrant or probable cause.
In the March 31, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 14), CBP issued notices: (a) modifying a classification ruling on certain knit camisoles, and (b) revoking a classification ruling regarding a set top box. CBP states that it is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.
The State Department's Washington File reports that the Bush Administration is seeking from Congress a two-year delay of a requirement that "visa waiver countries" issue machine-readable passports that incorporate biometric identifiers. This delay would allow countries whose passport holders are not required to have a U.S. visa to enter the country to meet technical challenges of issuing passports containing biometric data, such as digital, inkles finger scans and digital photographs. (Washington File Pub, 04/02/04, available at http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/washfile_feature2.html)
On March 4, 2004, the Senate passed its version of H.R. 1047, the "Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act of 2003."
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice announcing the opportunity to request administrative reviews of the following antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message announcing that Amendment 5 (dated March 2004) to the Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements document (CATAIR) is available for downloading from CBP's Web site.
In connection with D/N 98-14, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has issued a notice of inquiry requesting comments, no later than June 1, 2004, on the current status of shipping in the U.S. trade with China and the effects of the new U.S.-China bilateral Agreement on Maritime Transportation (AMT).
In the March 24 and 31, 2004 issues of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 13 and 14), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to modify a ruling regarding the country of origin marking for imported auto parts that are repackaged in the U.S. for retail sale, and (b) revoking a classification ruling on a barbecue and apron set. CBP states that it is also revoking, or proposing to revoke, any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.