The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss, and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on, various customs and trade issues.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted to its Web site a third version of its Questions & Answers (Q&A) document regarding the registration of food facilities, which is effective immediately.
Broker Power has previously reported that, effective from February 2, 2004 through April 30, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is detaining or sending to a laboratory for testing, importations of socks from at most 22 targeted countries, in order to verify their country of origin.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site various materials related to the January 27-29, 2004 meeting of the Trade Support Network (TSN).
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss, and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials on, various trade and customs issues.
On February 2, 2004, the World Shipping Council (WSC), the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc. (NCBFAA), and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) filed a petition with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requesting reconsideration of certain aspects of CBP's December 5, 2003 final rule on the advance electronic presentation of cargo information that pertain to inbound ocean cargo.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a general notice announcing that it plans to conduct a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test of the Periodic Monthly Statement for deposit of estimated duties and fees.
On February 2, 2004, President Bush transmitted to Congress his fiscal year (FY) 2005 budget request. (FY 2005 is October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005.) President Bush has requested $40.2 billion for Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a 10% increase over the comparable FY 2004 budget.
and Establishment of ACE Broker Accounts
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the European Union (EU) is poised to impose trade sanctions on billions of dollars of U.S. goods starting in March 2004, as congressional leaders signaled their inability to reach agreement on repeal of the U.S. Foreign Sales Corp./Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act (FSC/ETI) tax regime. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled this tax deduction illegal and given the EU permission to impose as much as $4 billion in sanctions a year. According to an EU official, if the law isn't repealed, the EU is certain to retaliate starting March 1, 2004. (WSJ Pub, 01/26/04, www.wallstreetjournal.com)