Gerardo Chavez, the president of the San Diego Customs Broker Association, pleaded guilty to organizing a conspiracy to import foreign-made goods in to the U.S. without paying customs duties, said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. Another person charged in the case, Carlos Medina, also pleaded guilty, the Justice Department said. As a part of the plea deal, Chavez will cancel his customs broker license, forfeit property, and pay restitution of as much as $18 million.
CBP updated its Trade Transformation document for November, providing some brief information on the customs broker working group that is developing guidance on the role of the brokers in dealing with the Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs). The CEEs are industry-dedicated, virtual locations for entry summary review and are currently in a pilot phase. The virtual locations are hoped to offer a more consistent treatment of goods for each industry, though some concerns remain among brokers and importers.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America will hold its annual conference at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif. April 7-10.
CBP announced the location and agenda for next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC), Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. (ET) in Washington, D.C. Online registration for webcast and in-person participation is available through Nov. 30, said a notice in the Federal Register Nov. 16.
The Court of International Trade ordered C.H. Robinson to pay $106,407.86 in unpaid duties, plus pre- and post-judgment interest, on wearing apparel from China entered for transportation and exportation (T&E) to Mexico but allegedly diverted into U.S. commerce. CIT did not allege C.H. Robinson was party to the diversion scheme, but found that as carrier C.H. Robinson was liable for payment of the duties. C.H. Robinson provided proof of arrival at the port of exportation, but could not prove actual exportation of the merchandise after a CBP investigation indicated the merchandise was missing.
AT&T’s $14 billion “Project Velocity IP” plan to expand its wireline and wireless broadband network will broaden the company’s reach into areas that are “underserved and unserved” by this technology thus far, industry analysts and brokers told us. AT&T told investors at a company conference Wednesday that it plans to spend $8 billion to expand its 4G LTE wireless broadband coverage and $6 billion to increase offerings of its U-verse and U-verse IPDSLAM services.
The Port of New Orleans set records for container traffic in 2012, said Port of New Orleans CEO Gary LaGrange in the annual State of the Port Address Nov. 5 hosted by the International Freight Forwarders and Customs Brokers Association of New Orleans. In 2011, the port handled a record 476,413 TEUs. Through the first six months of 2012, the port handled 241,707 TEUs -- outpacing last year's figures for the same time period. So far in 2012, total general cargo is up 8.5 percent, buoyed by a 23 percent increase in break-bulk cargo.
The appeals court ruling in Hitachi v. United States on CBP protest deadlines is not consequential enough to merit review, said the U.S. government in its Nov. 2 reply brief to Hitachi’s request for a hearing by the Supreme Court. The issue took four decades to arise, the government said, and importers have the option of accelerated disposition of CBP protests if they seek judicial review.
All Port of New York and New Jersey container terminals reopened at 7 a.m. Nov. 5, except the Red Hook terminal, which reopened at 8 a.m. See details (here). There were some limitations, for example, Maher Terminals told customers that it would not be receiving empty containers into its facilities Nov. 5 and it wasn't sure if it would be allowed to process trucks past 6 p.m. (here)
The National Customs Broker and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) released a new paper meant to serve "as the starting point for a continuous review of the role the licensed customs broker plays now and into the future." The paper, released Nov. 2, describes the roles currently played by customs brokers. CBP is in the process of reviewing and rewriting a number of broker regulations in CFR 19 Part 111. "Our hope is that this document serves not only to provide an historical perspective but also to provide guidance as to where we see the industry headed," said NCBFAA. "Of course, events over which we have no control may dictate changes but, absent any benchmark, we would have no idea how far we have come."