U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to its Web site certain new Trade Support Network (TSN) committee Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user requirement recommendations and ACE Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message drafts.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S. (See final rule for compliance dates for each transportation mode.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice advising the trade of the upcoming system requirements for filing a U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (UCFTA) claim through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S. (See final rule for compliance dates for each transportation mode.)
NCTA, which helped broker a plug-&-play agreement between the cable and consumer electronics (CE) industries, is asking the FCC to reconsider or clarify its order largely incorporating the agreement. NCTA praised the Commission for adopting the agreement and said its objections were focused on “some narrow technical issues that arise from certain language used in the rules that varied from the language proposed” by cable and CE. Petitions for reconsideration were due Mon.
NCTA, which helped broker a plug-&-play agreement between the cable and CE industries, is asking the FCC to reconsider or clarify its order largely incorporating the agreement. NCTA praised the Commission for adopting the agreement and said its objections were focused on “some narrow technical issues that arise from certain language used in the rules that varied from the language proposed” by cable and CE. Petitions for reconsideration were due Mon.
Despite the relatively small number of console owners who have taken their systems online, San Francisco-based Zelos Group said a survey of U.S. consumers found that “online gaming and broadband support drive consumer adoption of game consoles.” Zelos analyst Billy Pidgeon said “this finding bodes well for Microsoft and Sony, whose latest consoles offer Internet connectivity.” But he warned: “Nintendo would be well advised to reconsider its strategy to not connect its console to the Internet, as GameCube owners show a greater desire to play games online than did PS2 and Xbox owners.”
Two different groups of business organizations petitioned the FCC to stay new unsolicited fax rules (CD Aug 5 p4) which they said would impede their ability to communicate with members or preexisting customers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, joined by the National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors, National Assn. of Manufacturers, National Restaurant Assn. and others, filed a stay petition Fri. charging the rules were “ludicrous,” Chamber Gen. Counsel Steve Bokat said. The Chamber said the rules would place “a monumental and costly administrative burden on associations and other businesses by requiring them to obtain the signed written consent of each recipient before any commercial fax may be sent.” Bokat said the rules meant “if a customer called and asked for a faxed copy of a bill or invoice, for example, a business would be prohibited from doing so.” The Chamber said it was urging its members to contact the FCC and their representatives in Congress to “explain the negative impact this will have on their ability to satisfy customers and hear from the business associations they trust.” The Business Users Coalition, composed of the American Society of Travel Agents, Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America, National Assn. of Mortgage Brokers, Consumer Mortgage Coalition and Midwest Circulation Assn., asked for a stay of at least 6 months. The group said it wouldn’t have time to “review, understand and comply” with the rules before the Aug. 25 effective date. The FCC’s decision to eliminate “established business relationships” (EBRs) as a justification for sending unsolicited faxes “caught all aspects of industry, from large to small businesses, off guard,” the coalition’s petition said. “The task of obtaining the necessary written authorizations is so large because the dependence of businesses on regular faxed information is so great,” the coalition said. It said it was confident necessary consents would be given, “but it is not practical to assume tens of millions of businesses can comply with the new rules -- providing consent to all companies that send them information -- in only 30 days.”
The FTC said it would propose to add a new section to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) that would impose fees on entities accessing the national “do-not-call” registry. The amendments, if adopted, among other things would: (1) Require only sellers to pay the annual fee for access to the national registry. (2) Propose an annual fee of $29 per area code, with a maximum annual fee of $7,250. (3) Allow free access to up to 5 area codes. (4) Set Oct. 1 as the effective date for the “do-not-call” provisions of the Amended TSR. The Commission said additional revisions in the Amended TSR “would allow more entities to access the ‘do-not-call’ registry” while limiting access only to telemarketers, as currently defined by the rule, would prevent parties that were exempt from the FTC’s jurisdiction from obtaining the information necessary to scrub their lists in case they decided to do so for customer-service reasons. Limited access also could prevent sellers from fully complying with the rule, and “may unnecessarily hinder the services provided to the telemarketing industry by list brokers and others,” the FTC said. It stressed, however, that the information in the national registry could be used for no purpose other than to stop unwanted telemarketing calls. The FTC asked 3rd parties for comments.
SES Americom is “trying to sneak in the back door” by using license granted by Gibraltar to place DBS satellite at orbital location that wouldn’t be permitted if license were authorized by FCC, DirecTV Pres. Roxanne Austin said. Citing possibility of interference to DBS subscribers, DirecTV and EchoStar filed opposition at FCC to SES application to launch satellite for competitive DBS service(CD April 26 p3). “Our opposition to SES Americom’s FCC petition isn’t about competition -- we welcome the competition -- it’s about interference,” Austin said. Proposed DBS service offered by SES at 105.5 degrees would cause customers to “suffer significant service interruptions and impede our ability to deliver local channels,” she said. DirecTV said SES satellites would be only 4.5 degrees from DirecTV satellites at 101 degrees and 110 degrees, which would violate 9 degrees spacing established by ITU and FCC.