The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has begun proceedings to revoke the ocean transportation intermediary (OTI) licenses of 8 entities as a result of their failure to replace their OTI surety bonds with a valid bond issued by a surety company currently certified by the Treasury Department (Treasury).
CBP has posted a summary of changes to the Automated Export System (AES) Trade Interface Requirements (AESTIR) on its Web site, indicating that Version 1.0 was changed on March 9, 2006 as follows:
In U.S. v. Ford Motor Company (Ford), the Court of International Trade (CIT) granted Ford's motion to dismiss certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims for a repayment of duties in the amount of $5,275,329 under 19 USC 1592(d), as the statute of limitations had expired.
Retailers attending last week’s closed-door Destination PlayStation event in Miami’s South Beach indicated they are “starting to be much more optimistic than in the past” few months, Take-Two Interactive CEO Paul Eibeler told analysts in a conference call late Tues.
In June 2005, the Court of International Trade ruled in International Custom Products (ICP), Inc. v. U.S., that a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Notice of Action (Rate Advance) reclassifying certain "white sauce" is null and void as CBP failed to observe 19 USC 1625(c) which requires, among other things, advance notice and comment when such an action would revoke or modify a binding ruling.
(This summary first appeared in ITT on March 2, 2006 06030215. It is amended and reissued in order to reflect the March 1, 2006 version of the 2006 HTS. Also, sections on changed circumstances reviews and email notification are added. The BP Note is also revised to cover the expanded list of allowed non-originating textiles.)
The International Trade Administration (ITA) and the International Trade Commission (ITC) have issued various notices, each initiating automatic five-year Sunset Reviews on the above-listed antidumping (AD) duty orders.
The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice, effective March 1, 2006, setting forth the interim procedures it will follow in implementing the Commercial Availability Provision of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Written comments on these interim procedures are due by March 9, 2006.
The Journal of Commerce reports that progress has been made on two technology fronts in the battle for supply-chain security - an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) working group has agreed to an outline of standards for an electronic container seal and a company that has been working closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to perfect a container security device announced that it had passed a critical test for reliability. The article notes that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulation expected to require seals for all containers is under departmental review. (JoC, dated 02/06/06, www.joc.com.)
Calling Google’s objections “simply beside the point,” DoJ pressed its case to the U.S. Dist. Court, San Jose, that Google should be forced to hand over a sample of queries entered into search engines and URLs returned in searches, for govt. use to defend an overturned anti-pornography law. The govt. took several potshots at the search giant, saying its arguments were contradictory or lacked evidence. Meanwhile, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) filed a brief on behalf of Google, and Stanford U.’s Center for Internet & Society asked the court to allow 3rd-party briefs on search engines’ classification under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). The next hearing in the case is set March 13.