On July 30, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749), a bill to require registration of importers and brokers; generate resources to support FDA oversight of food safety; increase inspections; and require food imports to demonstrate safety; among other things.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is expected to publish a Federal Register notice containing revised enforcement requirements for the Lacey Act Declaration for plants and plant products before October 1, 2009, the date the next phase of implementation is scheduled to begin1.
On August 6, 2009, Senate Finance Committee leaders Baucus (D) and Grassley (R) introduced the "Customs Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Reauthorization Act of 2009" (S.1631) to strengthen customs facilitation and trade enforcement efforts within U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
On July 30, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2749), a bill to require registration of importers, brokers, and food facilities; generate resources to support FDA oversight of food safety; increase inspections; and require food imports to demonstrate safety; among other things.
Trade associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and non-governmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network (47 groups in all) have issued a consensus statement recommending a number of changes to the way the Lacey Act Declaration is implemented and administered.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its mitigation guidelines for the assessment and cancellation of claims for liquidated damages for failure to comply with the requirements of the 10 2 interim final rule.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its mitigation guidelines for the assessment and cancellation of claims for liquidated damages for failure to comply with the requirements of the 10 2 interim final rule.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports that its criminal arrests on the Southwest Border have increased more than 17 percent through the first three quarters of Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, compared to the same period in FY 2008. In the nine months from Oct. 1, 2008 through June 29, 2009, ICE made 6,834 criminal arrests compared with 5,802 arrests during the same period last year. (News Release, dated 07/14/09, available at http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0907/090714washington.htm)
The Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Secure Freight Initiative, Richard DiNucci, provided an update on 10+2 during the July 7, 2009 National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America's Importer Security Filing webinar.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's New York/Newark Area Port has issued an Informational Pipeline stating that it will give Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism importers the benefit of expeditious completion of CBP-mandated cargo examinations.