West Coast Harbor Labor Negotiations
(Eric Jones, C-Air Los Angeles) / www.c-air.com
The current contact between the Longshoremen and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) for all West Coast Ports is set to expire June 30, 2014. The two sides met to begin negotiations in earnest May 12th in San Francisco and have agreed to meet daily until an agreement is reached.
It is to early to list all of the issues the two sides have to address before reaching an agreement since the meetings have just begun. However, there are some main points for each side that need to be worked out before an agreement is reached that include,
- Which side will be responsible for the Cadillac Tax under Obamacare that is to take effect in 2018 on the health care plan the Longshoremen Union currently have.
- The PMA has stated that the West Coast has lost market share in the past few years and is looking for a contract to remain competitive with Canada and trade moving through the Panama Canal.
- Some shippers are looking into moving a portion of their freight through Panama or Canada and then truck or rail freight back to distribution centers on the West Coast if negotiations drag out past mid-June.
C-Air will continue to monitor the labor negotiations and update our clients through this contact extension.
US, Uruguay sign Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (ICE) / http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1405/140513washingtondc.htm
WASHINGTON — The United States signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) Tuesday with Uruguay marking a significant milestone in collaboration between the two countries. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske signed the agreement on behalf of CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Uruguay's Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Almagro signed the agreement on behalf of Uruguay. The bilateral agreement is a valuable tool for the United States and Uruguay's respective customs administrations to prevent, repress and investigate customs offenses.
"Customs authorities around the globe are securing nations and communities against the threat of terrorism and transnational crime while facilitating legitimate commerce," said Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. "This agreement strengthens our nations' resilience against threats by expanding cooperation and information sharing with our international partners."
"This agreement will enable our customs officials to expand our efforts to protect our borders through the timely and secure exchange of information," said Thomas S. Winkowski, principal deputy assistant secretary for ICE. "We look forward to future opportunities for collaborative enforcement efforts with Uruguay's Dirección Nacional de Aduanas."
With this new agreement signed, CBP and ICE now have 69 CMAAs with other customs administrations across the world. CMAAs provide the legal framework for the exchange of information and evidence. This helps countries prevent, detect and investigate customs offenses and crimes associated with goods crossing international borders, including duty evasion, trafficking, proliferation, money laundering, and terrorism-related activities. CMAAs also serve as foundational documents for subsequent information-sharing arrangements, including mutual recognition arrangements on authorized economic operator programs.
Product Safety Agency Seeks To Advance Mission Through Center
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/trade/stakeholder-engagement/trade-news/ctac-news-releases/product-safety-agency-seeks-advance-mission-through-center
Thursday May 15, 2014 - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) met at the National Product Safety Research Laboratory in Rockville, Maryland for a full-day workshop to discuss joint efforts to address trade enforcement and facilitation through the Consumer Product & Mass Merchandising (CPMM) Center of Excellence and Expertise.
“The Centers have transformed how CBP approaches its trade mission,” said CPMM Center Director Petrina Evans. “It’s critical that federal regulatory agencies, such as CPSC, continue to engage with CBP at the industry level.”
The products regulated by the CPSC are primarily divided among three industry focused centers: Consumer Products & Mass Merchandising (Atlanta), Apparel, Footwear and Textiles (San Francisco) and Electronics (Los Angeles).
The key consumer products of concern for CPSC are those that could cause injury or death to consumers, especially children. These risks include excessive amounts of lead in paint, banned phthalates or small parts which could cause a choking hazard.
The CPSC has placed investigators at select ports across the country for import surveillance. In addition, CPSC has made major investments into the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) – a multiagency fusion center in Washington, DC – by assigning three CPSC international trade specialists to oversee their national enforcement efforts.
“The Commission has committed to a risk assessment methodology; one that deploys advanced technologies, local and national resources, and a close working partnership with CBP,” said CPSC Import surveillance Director Cave. “By working through the Center, we’ll be able to better accomplish our import safety mission, by leveraging the collective resources to improve trade facilitation and enforcement within the consumer product industry.”
United States Challenges Indonesia’s Ongoing Import Restrictions on Horticultural Products, Animals, and Animal Products
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative / http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2014/May/US-Challenges-Indonesia-Ongoing-Import-Restrictions-Horticulture-Animal-Products
Washington, D.C. – United States Trade Representative Michael Froman today announced that the United States is requesting new WTO dispute settlement consultations with Indonesia to address Indonesia’s import licensing restrictions on horticultural products, animals, and animal products. The United States previously requested consultations on prior versions of Indonesia’s trade restrictive measures. The United States is now requesting additional consultations to address recent modifications to Indonesia’s import licensing restrictions. Our co-complainant New Zealand, with whom we have been coordinating, is also filing a consultations request today.
“Indonesia revised its import licensing requirements in response to action by the United States at the WTO. Unfortunately, the revised system still appears to breach WTO rules and restrict U.S. agricultural exports. Accordingly, we will continue to press Indonesia to bring its import licensing system into compliance with WTO rules so that U.S. farmers, ranchers, and businesses are able to have the access to Indonesia’s market that we negotiated in the WTO,” said Ambassador Froman.
Background:
Indonesia has adopted non-automatic import licensing requirements that impede imports of horticultural products, animals, and animal products into Indonesia. The affected U.S. products include fruits, vegetables, flowers, dried fruits and vegetables, juices, cattle, beef, poultry, and other animal products. As set out in the U.S. request for consultations, these measures appear to be inconsistent with Indonesia’s WTO obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures, the Agreement on Agriculture, and the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection.
The United States previously requested consultations in January 2013 and August 2013 regarding prior versions of Indonesia’s import licensing restrictions. After the August 2013 request for consultations, Indonesia replaced and amended its import licensing measures. These changes did not remove the apparent WTO inconsistencies and introduced new restrictions. New Zealand also requested consultations on the prior version of Indonesia’s measures and is filing a new consultations request today.
Filing the new consultations request, in coordination with New Zealand, will facilitate the resolution of the dispute by addressing the current version of Indonesia’s import licensing regime. If the United States and New Zealand subsequently request the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel, the panel would examine the most recent version of Indonesia’s measures, as described in the new consultations request.
USTR’s Monitoring and Enforcement unit in the Office of the General Counsel developed this trade enforcement action with assistance from, and in close coordination with, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC), which was established by President Obama to enhance U.S. trade enforcement capabilities.
See a copy of the revised U.S. consultations request here.
Joint Statement from the Seventh Meeting of the U.S. – Pakistan TIFA Council
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative / http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/press-releases/2014/May/Joint-Statement-from-Seventh-Meeting-US–Pakistan-TIFA-Council
Washington, DC –Ambassador Michael Froman and Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, met in Washington DC today (5/15/14) to discuss a variety of trade and investment issues and to chart a path forward on improving bilateral trade and investment flows over the next five years. The United States – Pakistan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) is the primary mechanism for both Parties to discuss trade and investment issues and focus on ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
The United States and Pakistan announced agreement on a Joint Action Plan to expand bilateral trade and investment flows over the next five years. Among the areas of cooperation included in the Joint Action Plan are: 1) diversifying agricultural production; 2) enhancing intellectual property protection; 3) implementing the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement; 4) engaging on Pakistan’s accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement; 5) increasing trade in services; 6) outreach to U.S. State and Local Governments; 7) promoting entrepreneurship; and 8) increasing dialogue between our respective private sectors. Both governments will immediately begin work on implementing the Joint Action Plan. As noted in the Joint Action Plan, the United States and Pakistan established a bilateral working group to meet regularly to oversee implementation of the Joint Action Plan and to monitor progress in specific areas.
At the TIFA Council Meeting, the United States and Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Joint Efforts to Empower Women and to Promote Women’s Entrepreneurship. This is a historic MOU that will provide a mechanism for discussion on how to help ensure that women participate fully in the economy and have access to economic, as well as trade and investment, opportunities. Key elements of the MOU include exploring ways to: 1) ensure strong interagency and inter-ministerial support for, and coordination of, policies and programs aimed at the economic empowerment of women; 2) promote access to information about laws, regulations, policies, including information on international trade rules, requirements and preference programs; and 3) address and remove the impediments that women and women entrepreneurs generally face. The United States and Pakistan intend the MOU to be a standing item on the agenda for all future TIFAs and intend to begin discussions immediately on an implementation plan for the MOU.
At the TIFA Council Meeting, both governments discussed market access opportunities and exchanged views on how to enhance those opportunities. On the margins of the TIFA Council Meeting, private sector representatives from the United States and Pakistan met to discuss trade and investment opportunities in the textiles and apparel sector, as well as in the information and the communications technologies sector.
The Parties plan to host the next Business Opportunities Conference in Pakistan in 2014 and to hold the next TIFA Council Meeting in Pakistan in 2015.
PRESS RELEASE: International Trade Administration
http://www.trade.gov/press/press-releases/
05/14/2014 Commerce Initiates Antidumping Duty and Countervailing Duty Investigations of Imports of 53-Foot Domestic Dry Containers from the People’s Republic of China
One Ton Marijuana Load Stopped By CBP
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-05-12-000000/one-ton-marijuana-load-stopped-cbp
EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers working at the El Paso port of entry seized 2,111 pounds of marijuana Friday. The estimated street value of the seized contraband is almost $1.7 million.
“This was a deeply concealed drug load that was difficult to find and remove,” said Hector Mancha, CBP El Paso Port Director. “Smugglers went to considerable expense to hide this contraband. This seizure represents a significant loss for the smugglers involved.”
The events leading to the seizure began Friday afternoon at the Ysleta international crossing cargo compound when a tractor pulling a loaded flatbed trailer arrived from Mexico. The truck was transporting large pieces of equipment used in cotton farming. CBP officers scanned the shipment with an x-ray system and noted a number of irregularities in the appearance of the equipment. CBP officers continued their exam and drilled into metal rollers that were inside the machinery. They retrieved a green substance that tested positive for marijuana.These metal cylinders were filled with marijuana.
The large metal rollers were removed from all pieces of equipment. A contractor with specialty cutting equipment was dispatched to the port and helped cut open large metal cylinders that were concealed in the rollers. The cylinders were stuffed with compressed marijuana. No arrests were made and the investigation continues.
While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.
Fraud Warning: Fake Kimberley Process Certificates for Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Guinea
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/trade/trade-community/programs-outreach/conflict-diamonds/fraud-warning
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in conjunction with the Department of State, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, is advising the public on several scams involving Kimberley Process Certificates. Legitimate Kimberley Process Certificates are used to control the international trade in rough diamonds.
In one elaborate scheme, individuals were invited to Sierra Leone to view rough diamonds that were later evaluated as fake stones and were also provided with a fake Kimberley Process certificate numbered Sierra Leone 004199, issued in either April or May 2014. Variations of certificate SL 004199 has been presented to prospective diamond purchasers in the past three weeks. Diamond traders and business community members are also urged to be alert to the circulation of the fake certificate. If you are presented with a fake certificate, please report it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection at kpmailbox@dhs.gov and to Department of State at USKimberleyProcess@state.gov For more information about the Kimberley Process, please visit: CBP’s Kimberley Diamond page or the Department of State’s Conflict Diamond page.
In the last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has identified false Kimberley Process Certificates from Guinea, Ghana, and Sierra Leone that have been used by criminals in an advance-fee scheme to defraud people of thousands of dollars. The criminals have approached U.S. citizens via the internet urging them to purchase rough diamonds directly from West African sources promising legitimate Kimberley Process Certificates for export.
About Internet Scams
All advance-fee scams are designed to have the victim believe they can obtain something of great value for a small upfront outlay of money. If you feel you have been a victim of an Internet scam, please send all reports of Internet fraud directly to the
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) - a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). IC3 was established to receive internet related criminal complaints and to research, develop, and refer complaints to federal, state, local, or international law enforcement if appropriate. If the scam originated through a particular website, also notify the administrators of that website. When it becomes apparent you are the victim of a scam, it is best to end all communications with the scam artist, rather than attempt resolution. It is extremely rare for victims to recover lost money. For more general information about international financial scams, please see the website of the Federal Trade Commission.