Technical Trade Message to Congress Regarding Bangladesh
The White House / http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/27/technical-trade-message-congress-regarding-bangladesh
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
In accordance with section 502(f)(2) of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the "1974 Act") (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(2)), I am providing notification of my intent to suspend the designation of Bangladesh as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Section 502(b)(2)(G) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(b)(2)(G)) provides that the President shall not designate any country a beneficiary developing country under the GSP if such country has not taken or is not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights in the country (including any designated zone in that country). Section 502(d)(2) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(d)(2)) provides that, after complying with the requirements of section 502(f)(2) of the 1974 Act, the President shall withdraw or suspend the designation of any country as a beneficiary developing country if, after such designation, the President determines that as the result of changed circumstances such country would be barred from designation as a beneficiary developing country under section 502(b)(2) of the 1974 Act.
Pursuant to section 502(d) of the 1974 Act, having considered the factors set forth in section 502(b)(2)(G), I have determined that it is appropriate to suspend Bangladesh's designation as a beneficiary developing country under the GSP program because it is not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to workers in the country.
BARACK OBAMA
Court Overrules U.S. Customs Classification of Beta-Carotene
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP / http://www.gdlsk.com/firm-news/285-court-overrules-us-customs-classification-of-beta-carotene.html
On June 14, 2013, the U.S. Court of International Trade issued an opinion in Roche Vitamins, Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 13-73, finding that U.S. Customs incorrectly classified a stabilized beta-carotene product as a food preparation under HTSUS Heading 2106. The CIT determined 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.
Following a three-day trial, the CIT found that Roche had proven 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 and entered judgment in favor of Roche. The court’s decision in Roche Vitamins effectively overrules the Customs ruling.
Roche Vitamins is consistent with older rulings of U.S. Customs and the World Customs Organization, which had classified certain vitamins mixed with stabilizers in heading 2936. The court’s decision may result in opportunities for favorable tariff treatment of other vitamin and provitamin products containing added stabilizers.
Trial counsel for Roche Vitamins was Erik Smithweiss, Robert Silverman and Joseph Spraragen of Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP.
Attention: Maher Terminals Customers
Maher Terminals / http://www.maherterminals.com/index.cfm/do/page.info/show/news/which/195
All Maher Terminals facilities, including the Empty Depot, will be open for all moves from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. next week. This includes empty container dispatch/returns and refrigerated containers.
Maher Terminals will be closed on Saturday, June 29, 2013 and July 4, 2013 (4th of July) for truck line activity.
Benin Qualifies for “Folklore Articles” and “Ethnic Printed Fabric” Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
International Trade Administration /
http://otexa.ita.doc.gov/
CITA published the eligible products in the FR on June 19, 2013.
Ross Stores Agrees to $3.9 Million Civil Penalty, Internal Compliance Improvements for Failure to Report Drawstrings in Children’s Upper Outerwear
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission / http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/2013/Ross-Stores-Agrees-to-39-Million-Civil-Penalty-Internal-Compliance-Improvements-for-Failure-to-Report-Drawstrings-in-Childrens-Upper-Outerwear-/
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Ross Stores Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., has agreed to pay a $3.9 million civil penalty. The penalty agreement has been accepted provisionally by the Commission in a 3-0 vote.
The settlement resolves CPSC staff’s charges that from January 2009 to February 2012, Ross knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it sold or held for sale, about 23,000 children’s upper outerwear garments with drawstrings at the neck or waist. In February 1996, CPSC issued guidelines (which were incorporated into a consensus industry voluntary standard in 1997) to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled on neck and waist drawstrings in upper garments, such as sweatshirts and jackets.
In May 2006, the Commission posted a letter on its website which stated that staff considered children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck to be defective and present a substantial risk of injury to young children. In July 2011, based on the 1996 CPSC guidelines and the 1997 voluntary standard, CPSC issued a final rule which designates the hazards presented by drawstrings in children’s upper outerwear as substantial product hazards.
Ross’s distribution of some children’s garments occurred during the same period of time as CPSC’s investigation and negotiation of a 2009 civil penalty. The $500,000 penalty that Ross paid in 2009 was to settle staff charges that it failed to report four series of children’s upper outerwear drawstring garments distributed between 2006 and 2008. Ross’s distribution of the other garments in this matter occurred either partially or entirely after the effective date of CPSC’s Final Rule. There have been no reported injuries associated with the recalled garments.
In addition to paying a monetary penalty, Ross has agreed to implement and maintain a compliance program designed to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of Section 15(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act and the Final Rule. Ross also agreed to enhance its existing compliance policies by ensuring that its ongoing program contains written standards and policies, a mechanism for confidential employee reporting of compliance related questions or concerns, and appropriate communication of company compliance policies to all employees through training programs. Ross has designed and implemented a system of internal controls and procedures to ensure that the firm’s reporting to the Commission is timely, truthful, complete, accurate, and in accordance with applicable law. The company will also take steps to ensure that prompt disclosure is made to management of any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in the design or operation of such internal controls.
The Commission, in cooperation with Ross and/or other firms that manufactured, imported, or distributed the Garments, announced recalls of the garments listed below between March 2010 and May 2012:
See List
CBP, HSI Halt Scheme to Smuggle Aluminum into U.S.
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/local/06212013_2.xml
San Juan, Puerto Rico - US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led an investigation that produced today the arrest of five individuals leading three companies, indicted for three-counts of conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to an indictment, the defendants knowingly and willfully combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with each other to smuggle and clandestinely introduce, or attempt to smuggle or clandestinely introduce, merchandise imported from China, to wit: aluminum, by passing false and fraudulent invoices and documents through a CBP with the intent to defraud the United States of approximately $26.7 million in lawful antidumping and countervailing duties accruing upon said merchandise.
“CBP is responsible for enforcing the antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) law and collecting the ADD/CVD duties assessed against applicable imports. Importers who willfully circumvent the provisions of the ADD/CVD law through illegal transshipment, undervaluation or misclassification of merchandise in order to avoid paying these duties will be identified and investigated,” said Marcelino Borges, director of field operations for Puerto Rico and the USVI. “Our officers and trade experts remain vigilant to detect these violators and enforce all trade related laws.”
“The ICE HSI Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties (ADD/CVD) Program is one way that HSI protects U.S. businesses from fraudulent trade practices. ADD/CVD orders are issued by the Department of Commerce (DOC) and collected and distributed by CBP. Antidumping duties are assessed when importers sell merchandise at less than fair market value, which causes material injury to a domestic industry producing a comparable product. The United States can also impose countervailing duties to offset foreign government subsidy payments on exports of foreign businesses. Duties are imposed to offset the dumping or subsidies provided by the foreign country in order to maintain the competitiveness of United States industry and to foster a level business playing field,” said Ángel Meléndez, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “HSI is responsible for investigating importers who evade the payment of ADD/CVD on imported merchandise. ADD/CVD cases are long-term, transnational investigations that require significant coordination between domestic and international offices and with our foreign law enforcement counterparts."
The defendants and entities are:
- Samuel García-Adarme - the owner of Sultana Screens & Aluminum Sales and Vice President of Aluwest Industries
- Edrick García -Vázquez - the President of PRP Trading Corp;
- Armando García-Vázquez - the Vice President of PRP Trading and the Chief Financial Officer of Sultana Screens & Aluminum Sales;
- Carlos Minguela-Ortiz - the accountant for Sultana Screens & Aluminum Sales and PRP Trading;
- William Tang Piu Wong - the owner of AGI Trading Corporation, facilitated the importation of Chinese manufactured goods into United States commerce;
- Sultana Screens & Aluminum Sales - located in Mayagüez, and two additional locations in Caguas and Ponce, P.R., imported aluminum and manufacturing related products for sale;
- PRP Trading Corp. - located in Arecibo, P.R., imported aluminum; and
- Aluwest Industries - located in Ponce, P.R., manufactured aluminum products.
The object of the conspiracy was that defendants Samuel García-Adarme, Edrick García-Vázquez, Armando García-Vázquez and Carlos Minguela-Ortiz, owners and/or principals of Sultana Screens & Aluminum Sales, PRP Trading, and Aluwest Industries, with the assistance of William Tang Piu Wong, would purchase aluminum from China, transship the aluminum to Malaysia, repackage the aluminum and create false invoices to make it appear as though the aluminum originated in Malaysia, and then import the aluminum into Puerto Rico in order to avoid payment of the antidumping and countervailing duties (ADD/CVD).
ADD and CVD are additional duties imposed on goods entering into U.S. commerce for consumption. The imposition of ADD/CVD is a prerogative of the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to avoid imported merchandise being sold below fair market value. Since November 2010, the Department of Commerce imposed antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese-origin aluminum, which ranged from 30 - 33% of the declared value of the imported aluminum, and 374.15% of the declared value of the imported aluminum, respectively.
Count two of the indictment charges defendants Edrick and Armando García-Vázquez, Minguela Ortiz and Wong, along with the three companies, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The defendants, having devised a scheme or artifice to defraud the United States by means of false and fraudulent pretenses did cause to be transmitted by means of wire communications in interstate and foreign commerce electronic mailings for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice.
Count three charges all defendants with conspiracy to commit money laundering. They conspired to transfer and attempted to transfer funds, that is $6,907,985.43 in United States currency from Puerto Rico to Malaysia, with the intent to promote the carrying on of a specified unlawful activity, which was smuggling goods into the United States.
The forfeiture allegations include a money judgment of $26,758,437.86 for the unpaid ADD/CVD and a money judgment of $6,907, 985.43 for the money laundering count. The government seeks to forfeit real estate properties and bank accounts as substitute assets
When the Department of Commerce finds that imported merchandise was sold in the U.S. at an unfairly low or subsidized price, CBP is responsible for collecting the AD/CV duties timely to level the playing field for U.S. companies injured by these unfair trade practices.
USDA Proposes to Make Permitting Regulations for Plants and Plant Products Easier to Follow
U.S. Department of Agriculture / http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/2013/06/plant_regulations.shtml
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is advising the public of a proposal to consolidate regulations for a wide variety of regulated plant and plant products listed throughout the import quarantine regulations and inviting public comment.
This proposal will consolidate regulations concerning the importation of plant and plant products that are currently listed in the import quarantine regulations into one section, 7CFR 319-7. Requirements for applying for a permit for a plant or plant product, as well as how permits are approved, denied and revoked will also be listed for clarification and transparency. This will harmonize the permit process and make permitting regulations easier for Stakeholders to follow.
The proposed rule states uses for discretionary authority that APHIS has always had and exercised under the Plant Protection Act. This allows for the consideration of applicant’s compliance history before issuing permits and to consider State requests to limit movement of articles.
This proposal will require that all individuals who hold permits have and maintain a U.S. residence. If a corporation, institution, association or other legal entity holds a permit, they must designate an individual for service of process and maintain an address or business office in the United States. This will help with compliance with U.S. regulations and enforcement actions when necessary.
This proposal is published in today’s Federal Register. Consideration will be given to comments received on or before August 13, 2013. Please send your postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2013-0085, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. If you wish to submit a comment using the Internet go to the Federal eRulemaking portal here.
Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov website and may also be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet and through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds.
HSI, Philippine Bureau of Customs Signs Agreement to Establish Trade Transparency Unit
U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) / http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1306/130624manila.htm
MANILA, Philippines – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) signed a letter of intent to establish a trade transparency unit in Manila to exchange information and promote the detection of trade-based money laundering and commercial fraud violations.
The U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. hosted the June 20 signing ceremony and Deputy Chief of Mission Brian L. Goldbeck also attended.
HSI will provide the Philippine BOC with access to the Data Analysis and Research for Trade Transparency System, an HSI computer system that contains domestic and foreign trade data and allows users to see both sides of the trade transaction, making the transaction transparent. This access will provide both HSI and BOC the tools necessary to identify international trade anomalies and financial irregularities indicative of trade-based money laundering, customs fraud, movement of counterfeit goods and other import-export crimes. A recent study by the Financial Action Task Force and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering indicated that trade-based money laundering is a problem for many of the group’s jurisdictions and has serious significance as an avenue to launder proceeds of crime.
This signing ceremony was held in Thomas’ office at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. David A. Thompson, deputy director of HSI’s Office of International Affairs, and Joseph A. Gallion, deputy assistant director for HSI’s Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division, signed the agreement on behalf of HSI. Commissioner Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon signed the agreement on behalf of the Philippine government.
"This agreement sets the premise for stronger cooperation, coordination and information exchange between the United States and the Philippines," said Gallion.
"This trade transparency unit partnership provides HSI with another ally to further advance and improve trade- based money laundering investigations and other related crimes, as well as further promote our international cooperative efforts in the Asia-Pacific region," said Thompson.
The Philippines is HSI’s 10th foreign trade transparency unit partner.
DOT Fines Delta for Violating Bumping Compensation Rules
U.S. Department of Transportation / http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/dot-fines-delta-violating-bumping-compensation-rules
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today assessed a civil penalty against Delta Air Lines for violating federal rules protecting passengers who are denied boarding against their will, or “bumped,” on oversold flights. DOT fined Delta $750,000 and ordered the airline to cease and desist from further violations.
“Airline passengers deserve to be treated fairly, especially if they are forced to miss a flight because an airline oversold seats,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Consumers have rights, and we will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate our rules to protect the traveling public.”
When an airline oversells a flight, DOT regulations require the airline to seek volunteers willing to give up their seats for compensation. If there is not a sufficient number of volunteers, the airline then bumps passengers involuntarily. Passengers are entitled to a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the airline decides whom it will bump first. In most cases, passengers bumped involuntarily also are entitled to cash compensation of up to $1,300 depending on the value of their tickets and the length of time that passengers are delayed. In addition, the larger U.S. airlines must file quarterly reports with DOT on the number of passengers who were bumped involuntarily from oversold flights as well as those who agreed voluntarily to give up their seats.
In March 2012, the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office found that, in a number of instances, Delta failed to seek volunteers before bumping passengers involuntarily, or bumped passengers involuntarily without providing them a written notice describing their rights or informing them that they had a right to cash compensation. In addition, Delta classified some passengers who were bumped involuntarily as having volunteered to give up their seats, which both violated the passengers’ rights to compensation and resulted in inaccurate bumping reports filed with DOT. Delta also violated its published customer commitment, which included a pledge to obey DOT’s bumping regulations.
Delta may use up to $425,000 of the penalty to buy electronic tablets to record consumers’ decisions on whether they agreed to leave a flight and accept compensation offered by the airline, as well to train Delta personnel on using the tablets. The data collected can be used to help correct any problems the airline may have in complying with the bumping rules.
This is Delta’s second violation of the Department’s bumping rules in the past four years. On July 9, 2009, the airline was fined $375,000 for violations similar to those included in today’s consent order.
The consent order is available on the Internet at
www.regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2013-0004. A summary of the oversales rules is available at
www.dot.gov/airconsumer/fly-rights.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013