CBP has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that, due to Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans office will be closed until further notice. CBP states that if the trade needs assistance with the electronic interface systems (ABI, AMS, AES, RLF, QP, etc.) they should call the following numbers: Los Angeles (562) 366-5593; Washington, DC. (202) 344-1140; and Miami (305) 869-5674, (305) 869-8682, and (305) 869-5748. (Adm: 05-1014, dated 08/29/05, available at http://www.brokerpower.com/cgi-bin/adminsearch/admmsg.view.pl?article=2005/2005-1014.ADM.)
A state court in Palm Beach, Fla., sided with Nextel in a case over whether the carrier should prorate its wireless early termination fees (ETFs). The case was filed by Carver Ranches Washington Park Inc. -- a nonprofit now known as the Buccaneers -- that provided Nextel cellphones to its board members. The Nextel contract called for a one-year term, subject to an ETF. Before the contract expired, the group changed its policy, restricting phone use to its executive board. It kept the unused phones without paying the ETFs. The Buccaneers claimed it’s “unfair” under Fla. law that the ETF isn’t prorated. It sought no damages but did ask for a judgment requiring Nextel to prorate the contractual ETF, arguing that an ETF is “an unlawful penalty.” But the court said the group’s president was “well aware of the terms of the contract when he signed it” and “understood the early termination fee. There were no misrepresentations or misleading statements made.” The court also said the plaintiff “never inquired about any other kinds of contracts” that don’t require ETFs. “There is no view of the evidence that indicates or infers that the practice of charging a non-prorated termination fee is… an unfair trade practice,” the court said. “There is no evidence… that damages in the event of an early termination are certain or can be calculated with reasonable certainty,” it said: “The lack of reasonable certainty supports a liquidated damages provision.” The court decision comes as the debate is heating up at the FCC over a CTIA petition asking the Commission to confirm that ETFs in wireless carriers’ service contracts represent “rates charged” for CMRS, meaning Sec. 332 of the Communications Act exempts them from state regulation (CD March 24 p7). The court’s decision was “a very clear and powerful statement that could very well influence the debate going forward,” a CTIA spokesman said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a new "Trade Engagement Biweekly Reports" which summarize topics discussed during workshops held to develop the business requirements for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Release 5.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a proposed rule to amend its regulations at 19 CFR Part 351 on antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty sunset reviews in order to conform them to a December 2004 World Trade Organization (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) decision.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a revised version of its frequently asked questions (FAQ) and responses on its final rule requiring, among other things, the advance electronic presentation of information for inbound vessel cargo.
Accessories maker Mad Catz Interactive wants a federal court to declare it has “no liability” for the controversial “Hot Coffee” modification in Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The declaratory relief suit was filed July 26 in an unspecified U.S. Dist. Court in Cal., Mad Catz disclosed in a 10-Q report filed at the SEC. The suit names Take- Two and its affiliated Rockstar Games as defendants, the 10-Q said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has scheduled the next Customs Broker License Examination for Monday, October 3, 2005.
ATF Open Letter to Firearms and Munitions Importers on Retransfer of Certain Curio or Relic Firearms
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has issued an open letter to federally licensed firearms importers and registered importers of U.S. Munitions Import List articles announcing that the State Department's (State's) Bureau of Political Military Affairs will now, on a case-by-case basis, permit retransfers of certain U.S. manufactured military firearms that are classified by ATF as curio or relic firearms to U.S. private entities under certain conditions.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a revised version of its informed compliance publication (ICP) entitled, "Bona Fide Sales & Sales for Exportation to the U.S."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a general notice which states that entry summaries cannot be flagged for Reconciliation to account for latent manufacturing defects discovered after importation.