The publication Seaports Industry Update has issued an initial assessment of port conditions in New Orleans, dated August 31, 2005, after the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The initial assessment lists specific wharfs and facilities, with a note from the President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans stating that "The outcome is not good, and it has been aggravated by unexpected flooding following the storm. Yesterday I thought the damage could have been worse, but today I'm not so sure." Seaport Industry Update, dated 08/31/05, available by fax by emailing documents@brokerpower.com )
Harmonized Tariff Schedule
The Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) is a reference manual that provides duty rates for almost every item that exists. It is a system of classifying and taxing all goods imported into the United States. The HTS is based on the international Harmonized System, which is a global standard for naming and describing trade products, and consists of a hierarchical structure that assigns a specific code and rate to each type of merchandise for duty, quota, and statistical purposes. The HTS was made effective on January 1, 1989, replacing the former Tariff Schedules of the United States. It is maintained by the U.S. International Trade Commission, but the Customs and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the HTS.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) is soliciting proposals from interested parties and agencies by October 14, 2005 to amend the international Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System, HS), including the rules of interpretation, section and chapter notes and the texts of the headings and subheadings, with a view to keeping the HS current with changes in technology and trade patterns.
On August 2, 2005 President Bush signed H.R. 3045, the "Dominican Republic-Central America-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) Implementation Act" (Act) into law (Public Law (P.L.) 109-53).
At the request of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the International Trade Commission (ITC) has instituted a Section 332 investigation entitled "Probable Economic Effect of the Reduction of U.S. Tariffs: Update of Advice for Certain Items."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a revised form for requesting a change in Census parameters in the Automated Commercial System (ACS) for Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) numbers.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has scheduled the next Customs Broker License Examination for Monday, October 3, 2005.
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.
According to World Customs Organization (WCO) sources, the WCO Secretariat is preparing a new publication that will present all of the amendments to the Nomenclature appended to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System or HS) that are scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2007. WCO sources state that the amendments will be commented on individually, item by item, and all of the amended legal texts will be reproduced and their background, nature and scope will be briefly explained. According to these WCO sources, publication of the document is expected in late 2005/early 2006.
On June 29, 2005, President Bush issued Proclamation 7912 in order to implement certain Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) changes effective July 1, 2005; restore suspended GSP benefits for a number of India or Pakistan articles; grant GSP benefits for the country of Serbia and Montenegro; implement certain North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) rules of origin changes; delineate certain Carribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) benefits for footwear; treat certain members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as one country for purposes of GSP, etc.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued notices announcing the release of updated versions of the Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI). On December 4 and 28, 2004, PNSI Versions 1.5.01 and 1.5.02 were released, respectively. On March 25, 2005, PNSI Version 1.5.03 was released. In addition, on July 9, 2005, PNSI Version 1.6.00 was released.