The Food and Drug Administration posted its updated list of filer evaluation outcomes for July 2018. The frequency of filer evaluations depends on the number of lines filed by the company. An outcome of "paperless" means FDA has determined that electronic filing is appropriate, while "corrective action plan" means FDA has found an elevated error rate and has directed the filer to fix the issue, and "dual-mode filer" means the company has failed to implement corrective action plans and has been returned to dual-mode (paper and electronic) filing. The following filer evaluation outcomes were updated in FDA's July 2018 list:
The Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach and the Base Metals Center of Excellence and Expertise will hold a seminar on "Steel Identification, Classification and Trade Law" on Aug. 7 and 8, CBP said in a July 10 notice. The seminar, which will include presentations from technical, commercial and legal experts from the industry, is meant to "increase the knowledge level" for government officials and customs brokers "regarding steel importations," it said. This seminar "has been significantly modified, revised and restructured from previous seminars," to include "new material on fraud, circumvention and evasion, plus expanded information on current issues," it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 2-6 in case they were missed.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of July 6 (some may also be given separate headlines):
CBP poked several holes in a proposed sales plan for wine stored within a foreign-trade zone in a June 15 ruling (HQ H277473). DQ Enterprises asked CBP to weigh in on a wine sales operation that would make use of several different regulations to reduce or avoid customs duties. The agency responded with concerns for the bulk of the proposed plans, but noted other agencies would need to be consulted, too.
The Food and Drug Administration will soon launch a new process for filer reviews, following the completion in April of a two-month pilot involving nine customs brokers, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an emailed update. The new process will replace strict quantitative criteria, whereby a filer with an error rate of over 10 percent failed a review, with a more subjective review that accounts for the magnitude of the error. Several clerical errors won’t necessarily result in a failure, but a single substantive error may cause an “official action” status, the NCBFAA said.
The Food and Drug Administration will soon launch a new process for filer reviews, following the completion in April of a two-month pilot involving nine customs brokers, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an emailed update. The new process will replace strict quantitative criteria, whereby a filer with an error rate of over 10 percent failed a review, with a more subjective review that accounts for the magnitude of the error. Several clerical errors won’t necessarily result in a failure, but a single substantive error may cause an “official action” status, the NCBFAA said.
More than 2,000 people and organizations submitted comments on the idea of implementing higher tariffs on imported cars and car parts, with the overwhelming majority rejecting the idea. The National Association of Manufacturers noted that U.S. automotive exports increased eight-old from 1980 to 2017, and that imported parts are vital to automotive manufacturing's price competitiveness.
Verizon will no longer sell mobile customers’ real-time locations to two third-party data brokers “to prevent misuse of that information,” it wrote Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a response which he released Tuesday. AT&T said it's also ending the practice. Verizon sold the data to LocationSmart and Zumigo, which then resold it to other companies. “We conducted a comprehensive review of our location aggregator program,” wrote Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia. “We are initiating a process to terminate our existing agreements for the location aggregator program.” She said Verizon won’t sign new agreements “unless and until we are comfortable that we can adequately protect our customers’ location data through technological advancements and/or other practices.” AT&T did the same, a spokesperson said. “Our top priority is to protect our customers’ information, and, to that end, we will be ending our work with aggregators for these services as soon as practical in a way that preserves important, potential lifesaving services like emergency roadside assistance.” “Sounds like word hasn’t gotten to you, @ronwyden,” tweeted T-Mobile CEO John Legere. “I’ve personally evaluated this issue & have pledged that @tmobile will not sell customer location data to shady middlemen.” T-Mobile also responded more formally to Wyden. Sprint said it takes steps to protect customer privacy. Wyden noted the Verizon and AT&T statements in a tweet.
New absolute quotas on imported steel and aluminum should concern customs brokers due to added liability issues, said International Bond & Marine, a surety that underwrites customs bonds, in a post on its website. "The burden of complying with quota windows often falls squarely on the shoulders of the broker," it said. "Today it’s aluminum and steel, tomorrow it may be different commodities." If a broker misses a quota and the U.S. prevents entry, "clients may pursue legal action against the broker," the company said. Such an error "could make the broker liable for other consequential losses such as shipping costs, storage charges, and loss of market," it said.