A Journal of Commerce commentary opines that a way around the mandate calling for 100% scanning of maritime cargo containers at foreign ports prior to loading will eventually be found before the mandate's deadline in five years. The commentary notes that the policy is hardly needed in light of other security measures in place or being implemented. (JoC, 07/30/07, www.joc.com)
Notable CROSS rulings
The Washington Post reports that U.S. manufacturers are increasingly exporting goods that do not meet domestic safety standards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Among the types of substandard goods exported in 2006 were toys, lighters, fireworks, clothing, chemicals, carpets and pacifiers, which were shipped to Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, Colombia, the Czech Republic and the Philippines. (Washington Post, dated 09/01/07, available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101877.html)
The Department of Transportation states that Stagecoach Cartage and Distribution from El Paso, Texas was given approval to operate in Mexico, and Transportes Olympic of Nuevo Leon was cleared to operate in the U.S., marking the start of a year-long cross border demonstration project that will allow U.S. selected trucking companies to operate in Mexico for the first time, and change the way a select group of Mexican trucking companies operate in the U.S.
The Journal of Commerce reports that a federal appeals court denied a request for an emergency injunction to stop the Department of Transportation's U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking pilot program, paving the way for the start of the program, which the DOT hopes to begin as early as September 6, 2007. The program did not begin on September 1 as some had said it would because the DOT's inspector general had not completed the assessment of the program, which a DOT spokesperson stated was expected to be delivered September 5, 2007. (JoC, dated 09/05/07, www.joc.com)
The Department of Homeland Security has issued several recent notices related to the Automated Targeting System (ATS).
Canadian Prime Minister Harper, Mexican President Caldern, and U.S. President Bush have issued a joint statement regarding five priority areas for North American cooperation for the next year as part of the latest summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP).
On August 3, 2007, President Bush signed into law the conference version of H.R. 1, the "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007" (Public Law 110-53).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) minimum security criteria for Mexican long haul highway carriers (Mexican carriers).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has posted to its Web site both a brief and a detailed summary of the trade promotion agreement (another term for free trade agreement) with Colombia. The U.S.-Colombia TPA was signed in November 2006 and revised on June 28, 2007 to reflect the bipartisan consensus on trade reached in May 2007. (U.S.-Colombia TPA summaries, posted 07/06/07, available at http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/Colombia_FTA/Fact_Sheets/Section_Index.html)
The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department have issued a proposed rule for the land and sea portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) that would require a passport or other secure document denoting citizenship and identity for all land and sea travel into the U.S.