U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message which announces port code changes for certain Minneapolis area ports that took effect October 1, 2005.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) Office of Information and Technology has posted a notice to CBP's Web site containing a list, as of October 11, 2005, of companies/persons offering data processing services to the trade community for the Automated Broker Interface (ABI).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site various materials related to presentations made at the September 26-29, 2005 meeting of the Trade Support Network (TSN).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a notice on two aspects of a CBP interim rule which, effective October 5, 2005, amended 19 CFR Parts 12, 102, 141, 144, 146 and 163 in order to update, restructure, and consolidate the regulations relating to the country of origin of textile and apparel products. (See ITT's Online Archives or 10/06/05 news, 05100605, for BP summary.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an expanded trade update on Hurricane Rita, dated October 4, 2005, which lists the status of ports of entry in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi that were in the path of Hurricane Rita and/or that are recovering from Hurricane Katrina. In addition, CBP has also issued a trade questions-and-answers (Q&A) document in response to Hurricane Rita.
The Justice Dept. amended its antitrust complaint against the National Assn. of Realtors (NAR) Tues., charging that the group’s modified policy continues to prevent Internet-based real estate brokers from offering better services and lower costs to consumers. The lawsuit challenges NAR rules that limit competition from brokers who use Internet tools to serve their customers (WID Sept 9 p9). The new complaint says NAR’s changed rules still “obstruct competition, threaten to lock in outmoded business models and inflate prices in the industry.” Last-minute changes by NAR didn’t fix the anticompetitive effects of its policy, said Assistant Attorney Gen. Bruce McDonald. “When buying and selling a home, consumers should receive the full benefits of competition -- better services and lower costs. NAR’s modified policy continues to prevent consumers from realizing these benefits.”
According to a September 28, 2005 Textile Development Memo issued by the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is about to unveil an interim regulation repealing the multicountry and single textile declaration requirement. According to the article, a formal Federal Register notice is imminent and will, on an interim basis, revise 19 CFR 12.130 to delete the textile declaration requirement. (USA-ITA TDM dated 09/28/05, www.usaita.com.)
Residential real estate brokers are competitive but the industry’s main driver seems to be based more on non- price variables -- such as quality, reputation and level of service -- than on brokerage fees, a new Govt. Accountability Office (GAO) report indicated. The sector’s online multiple listing services (MLS) is a potential cause for the apparent lack of price variation, investigators said. The system facilitates cooperation among brokers in a way that can benefit consumers but may discourage brokers from deviating from conventional commission rates. The Internet changed how consumers look for real estate, facilitating creation and growth of alternatives to traditional brokers, GAO found. Websites offer consumers access to property data once available only through direct contact with brokers. The Internet also fosters alternative residential real estate brokerage models, including discount brokers and broker referral services. Industry analysts cited as obstacles to wider Web use in real estate such barriers as restrictions on listing data on sites, traditional brokers’ resistance to cooperating with alternative firms, and certain state laws and regulations. This month, the Justice Dept. sued the National Assn. of Realtors (NAR), alleging the group depresses competition by requiring NAR-affiliated MLS listers to let brokers withhold listings from other brokers’ sites via an “opt out.” This enables traditionally minded brokers to keep competitors’ customers from seeing all MLS listings (WID Sept 9 p9).
According to American Shipper, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert Bonner stated at a recent National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) conference that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is still grappling with how to get commercial information about international cargo movements earlier in the supply chain in order to improve targeting of high risk containers and reduce the amount of cargo held for automated or physical inspections. (ShippersNewsWire, dated 09/23/05, www.americanshipper.com )
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a notice announcing the opening of the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on mixes and doughs as provided for in HTS Chapter 19, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 3 for the period October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006.