CBP outlined its recent enforcement work related to antidumping and countervailing duties in an AD/CVD Update for November and December (here). The update includes a look at AD/CVD statistics for fiscal year 2016, during which CBP collected $1.5 billion in cash deposits, up 25 percent over the previous fiscal year and up 200 percent since FY 2014. Also during FY 2016, CBP hit importers with $30.6 million in monetary penalties for fraud or negligence involving AD/CVD violations and identified more than $92 million on AD/CVD discrepancies after a review of 33,000 potential violations, it said. CBP auditors found $14.7 million in AD/CVD discrepancies as part of 89 audits during the year, it said. CBP and ICE also seized 16 shipments worth more than $5.3 million for AD/CVD violations, CBP said. The Centers of Excellence and Expertise continue to play a leading role in AD/CVD enforcement (see 1608030028), with the Base Metals Center recovering in excess of $710,000 in countervailing duties "to date," CBP said. The Pharmaceuticals CEE also followed up on an inquiry from a customs broker about classification and AD/CVD advice for hydrofluorocarbons from China, it said. "Due to a high risk for evasion, the information obtained from the inquiry was used to identify other subject shipments resulting in the recovery of over $1.3 million in undeclared antidumping duties," CBP said.
CBP forms 28 (Request for Information) and 29 (Notice of Action) are increasingly going straight to importers of record and no copy going to customs brokers, customs brokerage CPH Group said in an email (here). "With the CEEs coming into full force it has become more common that Customs Form (CF) 28 and CF 29 go directly to the importer of record, without the broker receiving a courtesy copy," it said. "If you receive either a CF 28 Customs Request for Information and/or CF 29 Notice of Action, it is vital to keep your customs broker in the loop! It's also important to note that the ACE Secure Data Portal allows authorized users to receive and respond to both of these notices." CBP didn't comment.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of March 22 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The Food and Drug Administration recently deployed a web service that will allow importers and customs brokers to access FDA’s product code builder database through the ACE Automated Broker Interface (ABI), CBP said in a CSMS message (here). The product code builder application program interface released March 20 will allow software developers to build a user interface for the product code builder in ABI, FDA said (here). “This does not replace the current online Product Code Builder but compliments it by providing trade a method to program existing software to query and verify FDA Product Codes,” it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 13-17 in case they were missed.
Another customs broker recently agreed to additional requirements for validation of powers of attorney as part of a settlement of a trademark lawsuit with Nike. Like the recent settlement between Nike and Alto Customhouse Brokers (see 1702140037), a settlement reached in December in Los Angeles federal court between Nike and KAL America requires the customs brokerage to validate all new powers of attorney it receives from importers by means of notarization, phone calls and checking government-issued IDs. The settlement ends one of the few remaining of a series of trademark cases brought by Nike against customs brokers. Nike has over time moved away from the practice, according to customs lawyers familiar with the issue.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 6-10 in case they were missed.
A customs broker can be employed by a brokerage and a freight forwarding company simultaneously as long as the freight forwarder isn't involved in customs business, CBP said in a Feb. 7 ruling (here). The ruling came at the request of Jesse Weisman, CEO of JW Customs Brokers (JWCB) and JW Transport (JWT), a freight forwarding company. Weisman sought CBP's input on "whether a conflict arises from a customs broker’s simultaneous employment with a brokerage and freight forwarding entity, and whether a customs broker so employed may receive a salary from both entities," CBP said.
CBP should release the details on imported shipments found to include counterfeit products, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) said in comments to the agency (here). The GIPC's and other comments (here) were submitted as part of CBP's proposed rule to create a donation program to help it with intellectual property rights enforcement (see 1701130021). The proposed rule is a result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which said CBP must issue regulations allowing the agency to accept industry donations for IPR enforcement (see 1602230080). That law "also expands post-seizure information sharing with industry experts" and "CBP agents should proactively use these new tools to maximize advanced counterfeit detection with industry," the GIPC said.
A customs brokerage that is ending operations can transfer clients to a new broker through a "single blanket power of attorney" only if the original POA includes specific successorship provisions, CBP said in a Jan. 23 ruling (here). The ruling was in response to a request from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, which inquired as to whether a blanket POA would suffice for the transfer. "NCBFAA states that customs brokerage entities concluding a corporate transaction such as a merger or sale must transfer clients from the entity ceasing to legally exist, to the new entity acting as its replacement," CBP said.