According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) administrative message, CBP sources, and the CATAIR, if a filer reports a bondable1 AD/CV entry through the Automated Broker Interface (ABI), and a bond (usually a single entry bond (SEB)) is used to provide security for the AD/CV liability (rather than a cash deposit), the surety code is required in order to identify who is providing the bond, as required by TD 85-145.
Newly-enacted data breach laws in 6 states differ from Cal.’s pioneering law in scope and trigger mechanisms, the law firm Cole, Raywid & Braverman said Thurs. The 2003 Cal. law requires firms maintaining personal information in a computer database to notify any affected Cal. resident of breaches. “Personal information” includes full name plus any from among Social Security number (SSN), driver’s license number (DLN), Cal. ID card number, or financial account, credit or debit card number coupled with account access codes. Publicly available information offered by federal, state or local govts. isn’t covered. Ind.’s new statute applies only to state agencies, and Ga.’s only applies to data brokers, like ChoicePoint, that sell information to unaffiliated 3rd parties, the firm said. Ark.’s law: (1) Exempts business from notification if an internal investigation finds no “reasonable likelihood” of harm to customers from the breach. (2) Covers medical information and doesn’t exempt publicly available information, unlike Cal’s. Mont.’s data breach provisions -- part of a broader privacy law -- cover only exposures that “materially” affect personal information or are “reasonably believed to cause loss or injury.” N.D.’s law includes under “personal information” a person’s birth date, mother’s maiden name, employer-assigned ID number and digitized signature. Like Cal.’s, 4 state laws “widely applicable” to businesses -- in Ark., Mont., N.D. and Wash. -- exempt firms with formal customer-notification policies for breaches. None of the laws clearly define how to decide a breach has occurred, the firm said. “The scope or frequency of any notice must be tailored to avoid creating exaggerated consumer fears or undermining investor confidence through unnecessary disclosures of attempted hacks or similar events that do not actually compromise the security of the stored personal information,” the report said: “It is likely that new laws… will make the process for determining when and where to give notice of a security breach more complicated.”
The Journal of Commerce reports that registration will begin in May for shippers wishing to participate in a test of PierPass in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, although full implementation of the program will be delayed until late June or early July (from a June 1 target date). PierPass, which will charge an extra $20 per TEU for cargo moving through terminal gates during weekday hours, is an effort to shift more cargo movements to nights and weekends to reduce peak-hour traffic. (JoC, dated 04/18/05, www.joc.com)
On May 17, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), etc.. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/19/05, 05051905, for BP summary.)
CIT rules that market, not FDA or courts, recognizes a dietary supplement as therapeutic. In Inabata Specialty Chemicals v. U.S., the Court of International Trade (CIT) agreed with the importer and ruled that chondroitin sulfate (CS) entered in bulk powder form and packaged for retail sale as a dietary supplement according to FDA requirements, is classified under HTS 3001.90.0000 (duty-free) as other human or animal substances prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, not elsewhere specified or included.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message reminding brokers that the Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) annual renewal period begins in June.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the low-duty Tariff Preference Level (TPL) (1) for Mexico filled on May 9, 2005 at 1:40 p.m.
According to a columnist in the Washington Post's business section, the sugar lobby has come out against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), in a bid to finally get sugar off the negotiating table once and for all, and preserve their tariffs and import quotas that cost Americans at least $1 billon a year in subsidies and artificially high sugar prices. (Washington Post, 05/11/05, www.washingtonpost.com )
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site the April 2005 Customs broker exam and answer key.
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) held its quarterly meeting on May 5, 2005 in Washington, DC during which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials provided an update on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).