TSCA Certification Option for Expedited Release Shipments - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
On March 21, 2017 CBP regulations went into effect that, among other things, removed the option for a filer to satisfy the certification requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) through the use of a blanket permit. Filers must now provide TSCA certification, including information on the certifier, for each shipment prior to entry.
CSMS# 17-000175 was issued to the trade to reiterate that the requirement to obtain TSCA certification prior to entry applies equally to importers using certain expedited release programs – where the products are released from the manifest – as it does to those making entry through the traditional process. These expedited release programs include Fast and Secure Trade (FAST), Border Release Advanced Screening and Selectivity (BRASS), Line Release and express consignment consolidated informal entries released off of the manifest.
From a technical perspective, however, CBP recognizes the difficulties for shipments that make entry through the indicated programs, to submit TSCA certification prior to entry. As such, for these shipments only, CBP will not require the submission of the TSCA certification documentation prior to entry, but will instead permit the importer and carrier to have the TSCA certification documentation available for submission upon request by a CBP Officer.
The filer will be required to submit the TSCA certification documentation, for each shipment, at the time of the entry summary filing.
Second and Third USITC Digital Trade Reports Launched - U.S. International Trade Commission
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has instituted the second and third of three investigations to examine uses of new digital technologies for U.S. firms and the impact of foreign policy barriers to digital trade on the competitiveness of U.S. firms in international markets.
The new reports, both of which will be confidential, will focus on the global business-to-business market and the global business-to-consumer market.
Global Digital Trade 2: The Business-to-Business Market, Key Foreign Trade Restrictions, and U.S. Competitiveness will analyze measures that affect the ability of U.S. firms to develop or supply business-to-business digital products and services to businesses abroad, and assess the impact of those measures on the competitiveness of U.S. firms supplying digital products and services, as well as on international trade and investment flows. This confidential report will be delivered to USTR by October 29, 2018.
Global Digital Trade 3: The Business-to-Consumer Market, Key Foreign Trade Restrictions, and U.S. Competitiveness will analyze measures that affect the ability of U.S. firms to develop or supply business-to-consumer digital products and services to consumers abroad, and assess the impact of those measures on the competitiveness of U.S. firms supplying digital products and services, as well as on international trade and investment flows. This confidential report will be delivered to USTR by March 29, 2019.
The investigations were requested by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in a letter received on January 13, 2017. The USITC’s first investigation in this series, Global Digital Trade 1: Market Opportunities and Key Foreign Trade Restrictions, was instituted in February. Details about this investigation can be found in the notice of institution dated March 16, 2017. This report will be delivered to the USTR by August 29, 2017, and released to the public soon thereafter.
The USITC will hold a public hearing and seek written submissions in connection with the second and third investigations in the spring of 2018 and will issue a Federal Register notice with hearing information and submission deadlines at a later date.
Further information on the scope of the second and third investigations is available in the USITC's notice of investigation, dated May 2, 2017, which can be obtained from the USITC Internet site (www.usitc.gov) or by contacting the Office of the Secretary at 202-205-2000.
USITC general factfinding investigations, such as this one, cover matters related to tariffs or trade and are generally conducted at the request of the U.S. Trade Representative, the House Committee on Ways and Means, or the Senate Committee on Finance. The resulting reports convey the Commission's objective findings and independent analyses on the subjects investigated. The Commission makes no recommendations on policy or other matters in its general factfinding reports. Upon completion of each investigation, the USITC submits its findings and analyses to the requester. General factfinding investigation reports are subsequently released to the public unless they are classified by the requester for national security reasons.
USTR Releases 2017 Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Rights - Office of the U.S. International Trade Representative
Report Underscores Administration’s Trade Priority for Protecting & Enforcing U.S. IP Rights
Washington, D.C. – The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released the 2017 “Special 301” Report, reviewing global developments on trade and intellectual property (IP) and identifying trading partners with harmful records on protection, enforcement, or market access for U.S. innovators and creators. The Report calls on U.S. trading partners to address IP-related trade barriers, with a special focus on the countries identified on the Watch List and Priority Watch List.
The 2017 Special 301 Report underscores the Administration’s key trade priority of ensuring that U.S. owners of IP have full and fair opportunity to use and profit from their IP around the globe. The theft of IP has resulted in distorted markets and unfair trade practices that harm American workers, innovators, service providers, and small and large businesses.
The Administration is committed to using all possible sources of leverage to encourage other countries to open their markets to U.S. exports of goods and services and provide adequate and effective protection and enforcement of U.S. IP rights. The Report reflects the Administration’s resolve to aggressively defend Americans from harmful IP-related trade barriers.
According to U.S. Government estimates, in total, IP-intensive industries directly and indirectly support 45.5 million American jobs, about 30 percent of all employment in the United States. By identifying the IP-related trade barriers, the Report helps focus efforts towards protecting and creating U.S. jobs, and promoting free and fair trade that benefits all Americans.
Significant elements of the 2017 Special 301 Report include the following:
- USTR continues to place China on the Priority Watch List. Longstanding and new IP concerns merit attention, including with respect to coercive technology transfer requirements, structural impediments to effective IP enforcement, and widespread infringing activity – including trade secret theft, rampant online piracy and counterfeiting, and high levels of physical pirated and counterfeit exports to markets around the globe.
- India also remains on the Priority Watch List this year for lack of sufficient measurable improvements to its IP framework on longstanding challenges and new issues that have negatively affected U.S. right holders over the past year, particularly with respect to patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and enforcement.
- USTR highlights troubling trends in counterfeiting and piracy. The problem of trademark counterfeiting continues on a global scale and involves the production of and trade in a vast array of fake goods, which harms consumers, legitimate producers, and governments. Digital piracy of U.S. movies, music, books, software and other works presents unique enforcement challenges for right holders in countries around the world. In many of the countries identified in the Report, including our neighbors Canada and Mexico, USTR notes the lack of adequate authority for customs officials to seize and destroy counterfeit and pirated goods at the border.
- The Report also focuses on the negative market access effects of the European Union’s approach to the protection of geographical indications in the EU and third-country markets on U.S. producers and traders, particularly those with prior trademark rights or who rely on the use of common food names.
- USTR closes the Out-of-Cycle reviews for Pakistan and Spain who have both undertaken improvements in recent years. Pakistan has maintained positive momentum in its efforts to reform its IP regime and Spain has strengthened its criminal laws for IP infringement and demonstrated a continued commitment to tackling online piracy. USTR also announces that it will continue Out-of-Cycle reviews for Colombia and Tajikistan, and initiate an Out-of-Cycle review for Kuwait to promote engagement and progress on specific IPR opportunities and challenges identified in this year’s review.
Consistent with its statutory responsibility to develop and coordinate U.S. trade policy, USTR provides the annual Special 301 Report to Congress, in coordination with all relevant U.S. government agencies.
BACKGROUND
The “Special 301” Report is an annual review of the global state of IP protection and enforcement. USTR conducts this review pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. After a review of more than 100 countries, USTR placed thirty-four (34) of them on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. Trading partners on the Priority Watch List present the most significant concerns this year regarding insufficient IP protection or enforcement or actions that otherwise limited market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection. Eleven (11) countries — Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela — are on the Priority Watch List. These countries will be the subject of intense bilateral engagement during the coming year.
Twenty-three (23) trading partners are on the Watch List, and also merit bilateral attention to address underlying IP problems: Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Guatemala, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
USTR also announces that it will launch several Out-of-Cycle Reviews (OCR) to enhance engagement with trading partners and encourage progress on IPR issues of concern. USTR will conduct OCRs of Watch List countries Colombia and Kuwait, as well Tajikistan, which is currently not listed. USTR may conduct additional OCRs of other trading partners as circumstances warrant or as requested by the trading partner.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
USTR continued its enhanced approach to public engagement activities in this year’s Special 301 process. USTR requested written submissions from the public through a notice published in the
Federal Register on December 28, 2016. On March 8, 2017, USTR hosted a public hearing that provided the opportunity for interested persons to testify before the interagency Special 301 Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee about issues relevant to the review. The hearing featured testimony from witnesses representing foreign governments, industry, academics, and non-governmental organizations. USTR offered a post-hearing comment period during which hearing participants and interested parties could submit additional information in support of, or in response to, hearing testimony and posted on its public website the full transcript of the Special 301 hearing (https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/intellectual-property/special-301/2017-special-301-review).
The December 2016 notice in the Federal Register — and post-hearing comment period — drew submissions from 57 interested parties, including 16 trading partner governments. The submissions that USTR received are available to the public online at www.regulations.gov, docket number USTR-2016-0026.
FMC Rejects Tripartite Agreement -
Federal Maritime Commission
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) today rejected on jurisdictional grounds the "Tripartite Agreement" (FMC Agreement No. 012475), an agreement between three carriers to form a joint container shipping service.
The Shipping Act does not provide the Federal Maritime Commission with authority to review and approve mergers. After careful consideration, the Commission determined that parties to the Tripartite Agreement were ultimately establishing a merged, new business entity and that action is among the type of agreements excluded from FMC review.
The Tripartite Agreement was filed at the Commission on March 24, 2017 by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd (K Line), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). These parties were seeking authority to share information with each other in advance of a new business entity being formed under the agreement next year. Absent today’s vote, or a Request for Additional Information, the agreement would have gone into effect on May 8.
Charleston CBP Intercepts Two Invasive Pests - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
CHARLESTON, S.C. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations, at Charleston seaport announced the interceptions of a species of long-horned beetles and a species of “globular springtail” insects from a recent shipment into the port. The freight arrived in late April from Italy and the insects, in various stages of growth including larvae and adults, were discovered nestled into wood pallets and plastic wrap in a shipment of wine destined for a South Carolina based distributor.
If these non-native insects were to enter the South Carolina environment and establish themselves, they could do grave damage to hardwood trees and native plants, fungi, and algae.
“When the public thinks of CBP, preventing terrorism and the unlawful entry of people and things usually comes to mind,” said Charleston Acting Area Port Director Joanne Fogg. “Our agriculture mission addresses a special type of illegal entry – the kind initiated by invasive pests that can do billions of dollars of damage to our environment, agriculture, and economy.”
The long-horned beetle larvae, which belong to the Cerambycidae family, are commonly called “round-headed bores.” When introduced to a new environment, they can cause extensive damage to living trees and untreated lumber or wood used in buildings and other structures. This species’ close relative, the Asian Long-Horned Beetle, has already infested areas in Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio at great financial and resource expense to those areas.
South Carolina is at particular risk for hardwood tree-damaging insects – a 2017 South Carolina Forestry Commission report indicated that forestry is among the state’s most significant industries with $21 billion in annual economic output.
The globular springtails, from the Sminthuridae family, consume native plants, fungi and algae, causing plant damage and stripping environments of food sources usually reserved for native species.
The discovery was made during the course of a multi-agency operation focused on a different pest risk – snails. While no snails were discovered in any of the many shipments examined, these non-native pests and various less significant violations were discovered instead. CBP worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Clemson University Department of Plant Industry and North Carolina Department of Agriculture on the operation.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within Homeland Security tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the U.S. while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. CBP conducts inspection operations and intercepts currency, weapons, prohibited agriculture products and other illicit items at U.S. ports of entry nationwide. View CBP Snapshot to learn some of what CBP achieves “On a Typical Day.”
Know Before You Go, Report Your Cash! - U.S. Customs & Border Protection
DETROIT— U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO) highly recommends passengers who are transporting currency in excess of $10,000, to make a report to CBP.
The transport of any currency and/or monetary instruments (i.e. cashier’s checks) over $10,000 must be reported to a CBP Officer upon arrival into or exiting the United States. Penalties can range from civil fines up to and including seizure of the currency and arrest.
“There is no limit as to how much currency travelers can import or export; however to avoid exposing the money to seizure, it’s always best to report it and file the proper paperwork” said Christopher Perry, Director of Field Operations for the Detroit Field Office.
So far this fiscal year which began October 1, ports within the Detroit Field Office have seized more than $4.4 million dollars, an 8 percent increase over the same time frame last fiscal year.
Currency and reporting laws were enacted to thwart bulk cash smuggling of drug trafficking organizations, terrorist finance networks and other criminal activities. CBP is advising travelers who plan to travel with large amounts of currency or other instruments to check the CBP.gov website.
Travelers are further encouraged to visit the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network FINCEN website to learn more about the currency reporting form.