The federal government should use all options at its disposal to pressure agreement in a months-long contract dispute at West Coast ports, and if the situation deteriorates President Barack Obama himself may need to intervene, said a wide coalition of importers, logistics services and producers in a Nov. 6 letter to the president (here). Crisis levels of congestion are continuing to severely disrupt port operations, and a full shutdown at the ports may be rapidly approaching, said the coalition, which includes the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, other West Coast customs brokers associations, the National Retail Federation and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA).
Two medical device importers are suing the Food and Drug Administration in District of Columbia U.S. District Court in an effort to secure the release of over 260,000 knee braces that are currently being held at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Plymouth Direct and Natures Pillows say their supplier obtained, before they started to import the product, written confirmation from FDA headquarters that the braces do not need premarket approval or notification as packaged and labeled. Nonetheless, FDA officials in Dallas took issue with the labeling and placed the braces on detention without physical examination. Plymouth and Natures Pillows say FDA has not responded to their subsequent attempts to address the agency’s concerns.
CBP and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America will hold a webinar on the move to eBond and electronic bond processing, said CBP in a CSMS message (here). The webinar is scheduled for Nov. 13 from 12:30-2 p.m. and registration is available online (here).
Industry associations called for the Consumer Product Safety Commission to withdraw or suspend its proposed rule on electronic filing of certificates of compliance at entry, in a letter dated Oct. 31 (here). A group of 32 associations including the American Apparel & Footwear Association, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, National Association of Manufacturers, and National Retail Federation said CPSC staff’s engagement with industry to develop a better regulation on certificates will be hampered if the Commission continues the rulemaking process. CPSC postponed the issuance of a final rule in its 2014 operating plan, but the agency is still considering comments related to its original Part 1110 proposed rule (see 14050702).
CBP said the following customs broker license, as well as all associated permits, is revoked by operation of law (here):
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 27-31 in case they were missed.
CBP issued Brian Feito, associate editor at International Trade Today, a customs broker license on Oct. 16. The license, approved by CBP Assistant Commissioner for the Office of International Trade Brenda Smith, was delivered through the Port of Washington, D.C.
Customs brokers are "encouraged" to email the customs release documents for mail parcels that require formal entry, said the Port of Los Angeles in a public bulletin. The Los Angeles International Mail Facility is six miles from the centralized entry processing site and delivery of the form is usually "by mail, messenger service or fax," said CBP. Instead, brokers should email forms 3509 and 3461 release documents to laximf3461@cbp.dhs.gov, the notice said.
Using CBP’s website on a mobile device to find rules-of-origin information does not make for an easy experience, even for the agency’s own employees. Craig Briess, international trade lawyer at the agency, found this first hand during a recent meeting on the African Growth and Opportunity Act with the Office of U.S. Trade Representative, during which he needed various regulatory information, he said during an interview. The mobile experience was far too difficult, which is why Briess set out to create a new mobile friendly site, customsmobile.com.
The European Union extended through the end of 2015 trade preferences for Ukraine, initially put into effect in April 2014 and previously due to expire on Nov. 1. The preferences, granted unilaterally, slash customs duties for the vast majority of Ukrainian industrial products, agriculture and processed food products (here). The measures aim to boost the Ukrainian economy after conflict in that country began to negatively affect its economy, and they also set the stage for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement, brokered in 2012 between the EU and Ukraine, to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2016.