The Journal of Commerce (JoC) has reported that the new hours of service (HOS) rules governing the number of hours commercial truck drivers may work , could worsen the driver shortage and possibly drive more long-haul traffic to intermodal rail, among other things. JoC adds that shippers may face higher freight rates and may have to take over loading/unloading so that drivers can get back on the road more quickly. (See ITT's Online Archives or 12/04/03, 03120410, for BP summary.) (JoC Pub dated 01/12-18/04, www.joc.com)
In early January 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an ABI administrative message announcing that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prior notice affirmation of compliance for air waybill (AWB) would be edited for format: NNN-NNNNNNNN. In that message, CBP noted that this was also a change to the BN01 and BN02 records in the 'BN' application. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/09/04 news, 04010955, for previous BP summary of previous message, Adm: 04-0031.)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a notice announcing that it is undertaking a pilot program to systematically review four of its current substantive regulations to ensure, to the maximum practical extent, consistency among them and with respect to accomplishing program goals.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice stating that, effective February 2, 2004, the current limit for Group I is being increased for special shift, decreasing the limit for Group III to account for the special shift being applied to Group I.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice announcing that the next meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will be held on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC. (This committee was previously called the "Treasury Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the U.S. Customs Service.")
According to government sources, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been conducting "targeted" documentation exams on selected textile and apparel shipments for over a year now, and is continuing to do so. To date, CBP has found numerous cases where counterfeit documents were used in an attempt to circumvent quota.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice designating the Resources Company for Development and Investment Zone (RCDI), the Al Hallabat Industrial Park, and the expanded Al Tajamouat Industrial Park as qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) from which goods, including textiles and apparel, may enter the U.S. duty-free under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act (IFTA Act).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site certain new and updated Trade Support Network (TSN) committee Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user requirement recommendations and ACE Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message drafts.
The ITA states that the final determination in this investigation is currently due April 5, 2004.