Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend Schedules 
PNCT: 11/28 Friday - OPEN - normal hours - will be open 6am - 6pm
Port of Long Beach - The Port of Long Beach administrative offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 27 and 28, in observance of Thanksgiving. Normal business hours will resume Monday, December 1.
PIER PASS: Truck Gate Schedule for Thanksgiving Long Weekend
Terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have announced their schedules for the Thanksgiving holiday period. The schedule is also posted HERE, and a PDF of the schedule can be downloaded at http://goo.gl/rDrp2t. Please continue to monitor the websites of individual terminals for potential updates.
Vacant Pier to Be Used To Ease Congestion
Port of Long Beach / http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1391&TargetID=1
The Port of Long Beach expects a “Temporary Empty Container Depot” planned for a vacant pier on Terminal Island to be open and operating in December, which will help to alleviate congestion at the docks.
The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the use of 30 acres on Pier S for temporary storage of empty shipping containers. The temporary depot will help put back into circulation more chassis -- the wheeled trailer-frames that trucks use to haul cargo containers. Because many terminals are congested due to the current peak in cargo volume and have no room to accept empty cargo containers, more space is needed to temporarily store those empties. The temporary empty container storage depot will provide a location for truckers to deliver empty containers and remove them from a chassis, and then use the chassis to pick up loaded containers and haul them to their destination.
Ports around the U.S. have been experiencing higher cargo volumes as importers prepare for the holiday shopping season. At the local port complex, a new chassis ownership system has at times left terminals and truckers without the equipment they need.
The vacant Pier S site is currently being prepared to handle the incoming empty containers, and will be ready for use in December.
Pasha Stevedoring and Terminals, a private company, will be the operator. The plan is to close the site by March 31, 2015.
“Clearing up the congestion is our top priority at the Port of Long Beach,” said Jon Slangerup, Port of Long Beach Chief Executive. “We are confident that utilizing Pier S as an empty chassis yard will expedite this process and create the opportunity to move and allocate chassis to the terminal operators and truckers.”
In addition to the depot, the Port has identified a plan to operate its own chassis fleet for peak cargo shipping seasons and peak demand. Long Beach also facilitated the introduction by private chassis fleets of an additional 3,000 chassis into the local area.
Federal Circuit Affirms Decision on Classification of Pro-Vitamin Beta-Carotene
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP / http://gdlsk.com/firm-news/335-federal-circuit-affirms-decision-on-classification-of-provitamin-beta-carotene.html
In a precedent setting decision on the scope of HTSUS Heading 2936, on November 20, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an opinion in Roche Vitamins, Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 2013-1568, affirming the lower court’s decision that U.S. Customs incorrectly classified a stabilized beta-carotene product as a food preparation under HTSUS Heading 2106. The Federal Circuit agreed that the stabilized beta-carotene product is classified duty free in HTSUS Heading 2936, which covers vitamins and pro-vitamins.
The product at issue in Roche Vitamins was a powder consisting of 20 percent by weight beta-carotene mixed with anti-oxidants and stabilized in a mixture of gelatin, sucrose, and corn starch. Beta-carotene is provitamin A. The product was sold under the trade name “BetaTab 20%” and was used predominantly as a provitamin A ingredient in vitamin tablets and capsules. The merchandise had also been used in food products.
In HQ 967061 (May 12, 2004), Customs had ruled that the product could not be classified in heading 2936 because it contained added ingredients such as gelatin and sucrose. Chapter 29 is generally limited to chemicals not mixed with other ingredients. The legal notes contain a limited exception for vitamins and provitamins of heading 2936, which can be combined with stabilizing ingredients provided these ingredients are necessary for preservation or transport and do not render it particularly suitable for a specific use.
The Federal Circuit affirmed the trial court findings that the gelatin, sucrose and other stabilizing ingredients in the BetaTab powder and its method of production did not alter the beta-carotene to make it particularly suitable for a specific use. The court therefore found the product should be classified as a “provitamin” in heading 2936. The court’s decision in Roche Vitamins effectively overrules the Customs ruling.
Roche Vitamins is the first decision of the Federal Circuit to construe the scope of Heading 2936, and in particular the scope of the Chapter Note which excludes stabilizers that render a vitamin or provitamin “suitable for specific use rather than general use.” The court’s decision may result in opportunities for favorable tariff treatment of other vitamins and provitamins containing added stabilizers.
Appellate counsel for Roche Vitamins was Erik Smithweiss, Robert Silverman and Joseph Spraragen of Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP.
FTC Relaxes Fur Products Labeling Act Regulations
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP / http://gdlsk.com/firm-news/336-ftc-relaxes-fur-products-labeling-act-regulations.html
Pursuant to the Fur Products Labeling Act (FPLA), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates the labeling (and advertising and invoicing) of any article of wearing apparel, including footwear, made in whole or in part of fur or used fur (the term “fur” is defined as any animal skin or part thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached thereto, either in its raw or processed state, but shall not include such skins as are to be converted into leather or which in processing shall have the hair, fleece, or fur fiber completely removed).
Historically, the FPLA regulations included a number of stringent labeling requirements relating to the import and domestic trade of fur products. However, effective November 19, 2014, some of the more onerous fur labeling requirements have been revised or rescinded, thereby reducing the burden on companies involved in the importation, distribution, and/or sale of fur products, as follows:
• An elimination of the minimum label size requirement allowing for the use of smaller labels
• An elimination of the minimum font size requirement allowing for the use of any size font
• An elimination of the Item No. requirement
• An elimination of the requirement to disclose certain animal parts and pieces
• An elimination of a mandatory sequence for FPLA required information
• An allowance for the inclusion of non-FPLA information on the FPLA label
• A revision to the rule for labeling pairs of fur articles
Please note that there are nuances and caveats to a number of the above actions. Our office is available to assist in the understanding of these amendments.
United States, Mexico Reach Modernized Aviation Agreement
U.S. Department of Transportation / http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/united-states-mexico-reach-modernized-aviation-agreement
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced today that a new, modernized air service agreement has been reached that will expand opportunities for passenger and cargo carriers to provide service between the United States and Mexico, and strengthen the economic ties between the two countries. The new agreement with Mexico includes unlimited market access for U.S. and Mexican air carriers, improved intermodal rights, pricing flexibility, and other important commercial rights.
The new agreement will remove the numerical limitations on the number of airlines that may provide passengers service in all U.S.-Mexico city pairs. As a result, some city-pair markets might see the entrance of new carriers for the first time in many years, and airlines can consider offering new service in destinations that they could have never considered previously. Cargo airlines, for the first time, will have expanded opportunities to provide service to new destinations that were not available under the current agreement, and to offer services from the United States to Mexico and beyond Mexico to other countries.
“Travelers, shippers, airlines, and the economies of both countries will benefit from competitive pricing and more convenient air service,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This agreement is the result of the commitment on both sides of the border to strengthen the strong bonds of trade and tourism between our two countries, and demonstrate our shared commitment to a competitive, market-based international economic system.”
The agreement will expand opportunities for air services and will encourage price competition by airlines, while strengthening our commitments to aviation safety and security.
The agreement will not enter into force until January 1, 2016, after both parties have completed their necessary internal processes.
Thanksgiving and Holiday Season Travel Reminder
U.S. Customs & Border Protection/ http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-11-24-000000/thanksgiving-and-holiday-season-travel-reminder
PEMBINA, N.D. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO), is reminding travelers planning trips across the border into Minnesota or North Dakota to anticipate heavy traffic in the United States on November 27 during the observance of Thanksgiving and for Black Friday. Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
All travelers are reminded of a few simple steps they can employ to cross the border more efficiently.
1. Check out the new CBP informational website. The CBP site has been completely redesigned to help users quickly access the content they need. It also is optimized for access by smart phones and makes use of a new content delivery network that will improve access internationally.
2. Beat the border rush. Cross during off-peak times, such as before 6 a.m. or after 3 p.m. Most lines at the border start building in the morning and carry on into early afternoon. Monitor wait times for the ports of International Falls, Minnesota, and Pembina, North Dakota, here. Information is updated hourly and is useful in planning trips and identifying periods of light use/short waits.
3. Keep travel documents handy. Make sure each passenger has the correct travel document accessible and ready to give to the CBP officer. If you are a frequent international traveler and have not already become a member of a trusted traveler program, sign up now. For more information, please visit CBP’s Trusted Traveler site.
4. Know the contents of your vehicles and be prepared to declare all items. Travelers are required to declare all items being imported into the United States from Canada. If you are not sure about what to declare, do not hesitate to ask the CBP officer.
5. Know what food products can be imported. Many fruits, meats, dairy, and poultry products are prohibited from being imported into the United States from Canada. For more information, view Prohibited and Restricted Items.
6. Declare all firearms. Travelers are reminded that specific requirements must be met to import or export firearms and ammunition to/from the United States. For more information on the importation or exportation of firearms and ammunition visit ATF, State Dept., and Commerce Dept. websites or contact CBP at 701-825-5800.
Our dual mission is to facilitate travel in the United States while we secure our borders, our people and our visitors from those that would do us harm like terrorists and terrorist weapons, criminals and contraband.
OTEXA: Announcements
International Trade Administration=OTEXA / http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/
11/21/2014 Now available for download: Recording and slide presentations from "Deepening Your Business Connection with Mexico" webinar.
ITA: Press Releases
International Trade Administration / http://www.trade.gov/press/press-releases/
11/24/2014
International Visitation to the United States Continues to Rise With Eighth Consecutive Month of Positive Growth
11/20/2014
Commerce Preliminarily Finds Dumping of Imports of 53-Foot Domestic Dry Containers from the People’s Republic of China