Made in USA Claims
Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP/ http://gdlsk.com/firm-news/333-made-in-usa-claims.html
A recent ruling in California may have an impact on businesses selling merchandise labeled “Made in USA” when the products are not entirely manufactured in the United States.
More specifically, a judge recently allowed a class action lawsuit to move forward under the California Business and Professions Code where the plaintiffs are accusing the defendants of falsely marketing jeans as being “Made in the USA” despite the fact that the jeans contain foreign parts. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit claiming that the plaintiff’s claims were preempted by the Federal Trade Commission Act, which permits “Made in USA” claims as long as merchandise is “virtually all” made in the United States. In denying the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the judge stated that the California law was not preempted by the federal law because it was possible to comply with both laws. The judge suggested that to comply with both laws, a company could use different labels in California than it does in other states. The judge noted that while this practice may be burdensome, it is not impossible to do. In this regard, the judge further opined that a label which read “Made in USA with imported components” would appear to satisfy both statutes.
For further information about “Made in USA” claims, please feel free to contact Mika M. McLafferty (mmclafferty@gdlsk.com) or any other member of our firm.
Port Works to Increase Chassis Supply
Port of Long Beach / http://www.polb.com/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1378&TargetID=1
Pursuing plan to provide more truck trailers
The Port of Long Beach is pursuing a new measure to respond to customer concerns and tackle congestion issues that are slowing cargo movement at some of its terminals during the current pre-
holidays “peak shipping season.”
The Long Beach Harbor Department, led by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, has been meeting with stakeholders to gather data, facilitate solutions and speed cargo flow in recent weeks.
Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Jon Slangerup has introduced a new proposal to free up more truck trailers or “chassis” that would see the Port provide an area in the harbor district where trucks could drop off empty shipping containers for temporary storage while they proceed with their chassis to retrieve loaded import containers from Long Beach docks.
While the Port is still investigating the plan, it could be a solution in the short-term to help ease an ongoing “chassis imbalance” that is the root cause of the congestion ? the chassis aren’t where they are needed to move cargo from the docks.
Along with recent moves to facilitate more privately owned chassis being dispatched to the Port and near-term plans to start the Port’s own chassis fleet, Long Beach is actively working on solutions to benefit cargo owners and other freight shippers.
“We are taking measures to ease congestion by freeing up more chassis,” said Port of Long Beach Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Noel Hacegaba. “The solutions that are being put into action will ease and speed cargo flow during the peak season.”
The Port of Long Beach announced two weeks ago that it would allow terminals to grant three extra business days of free time for international import containers, which would save cargo owners the cost of “demurrage” or storage fees charged by the terminals.
At the direction of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, Harbor Department staff is seeking permission from the Federal Maritime Commission to discuss congestion solutions with the Port’s neighbor, the Port of Los Angeles. The Board also directed staff to develop a plan for the Port to own a chassis fleet that could be used to balance the chassis supply when needed.
The Board of Harbor Commissioners’ Subcommittee on Port Efficiency, led by Commission Vice President Rich Dines and including Commissioner Lori Ann Farrell, has been convened to address these issues. Port executives also monitor and actively seek solutions with the Port’s Congestion Relief Team.
Buffalo CBP Agriculture Specialists Discover One of the World’s Most Destructive Pests
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-11-03-000000/buffalo-cbp-agriculture-specialists-discover-one
LEWISTON, N.Y. – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists working at the Lewiston Bridge discovered live Khapra Beetle larvae, one of the world’s most destructive insect pests, inside a shipment of rain ponchos from China.
On October 28, 2014 an ocean container being hauled by a commercial tractor arrived at the Lewiston Bridge and was referred for further examination. During a physical inspection of the commodity, CBP agriculture specialists discovered three live insect larvae. The container was sealed and the pest was forwarded to USDA for identification.
On October 30, a USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) – Plant Protection and Quarantine entomologist identified the pest as Trogoderma granarium Everts, commonly known as Khapra Beetle. The shipment was sealed and re-exported to Canada.
“Intercepting Khapra Beetle is vital to the agriculture industry," said Randy Howe, Director of Field Operations for the CBP Buffalo Field Office. “In this case, it isn’t common for Khapra Beetle to be discovered within this type of commodity. The vigilance of the agriculture specialists was extraordinary and stopped a potentially destructive insect from entering.”
Khapra Beetle poses a high risk to U.S. agriculture and is one of the world’s most destructive insect pests of grains, cereals and stored foods. Known as the ‘dirty feeder,’ it damages more grain than it consumes because it contaminates grain with body parts and hairs. These contaminants may cause gastrointestinal irritation in adults and especially sickens infants. Khapra Beetles have the ability to tolerate insecticides and fumigants, and can survive for long periods without food.
According to the APHIS, previous infestations of Khapra Beetle have resulted in massive, long-term control and eradication efforts at great cost to the American taxpayer.
California implemented extensive eradication measures following a Khapra Beetle infestation discovered there in 1953. The effort was deemed successful, but at a cost of approximately $11 million. Calculated in today’s dollars, that would be about $90 million.
Khapra Beetle is the only insect in which CBP takes regulatory action against when found dead or alive.
Savannah CBP Seizes Counterfeit Hermès Handbags
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/local-media-release/2014-11-05-000000/savannah-cbp-seizes-nearly-2-million-counterfeit
Third Multi-Million Dollar Counterfeit Seizure in 2014
SAVANNAH, Ga. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations at the Port of Savannah, Ga., seized 198 counterfeit Hermès Birkin handbags October 6. Had the goods been genuine Hermès Birkin handbags, CBP import specialists estimated that the merchandise would have had an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,861,200.
This seizure is the Port of Savannah’s third multi-million dollar seizure of counterfeit goods this year.
The shipment, manifested as polyurethane handbags, arrived to the Port of Savannah September 4 from China. It was destined to an address in Atlanta.
“Counterfeit goods pose a potentially serious safety threat to consumers and economic loss to U.S. businesses,” said Lisa Beth Brown, Area Port Director in Savannah, Georgia. Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) remains a top trade priority for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
The counterfeit handbags will be destroyed.
In July, CBP officers seized 377 cartons of counterfeit sunglasses with an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,619,550. Click here to read more about that seizure.
In April, CBP officers seized more than $1 million in counterfeit soccer apparel. Click here to read more about that seizure.
CBP protects businesses and consumers every day through an aggressive IPR enforcement program. CBP targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods, and enforces exclusion orders on patent-infringing and other IPR violative goods.
Detailed information about recording intellectual property rights and reporting intellectual property infringement to CBP can be found on the CBP website.
USITC: News Releases and Documents
United States International Trade Commission / http://www.usitc.gov/
Commission Vote -- Non-Oriented Electrical Steel from China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Sweden, and Taiwan [11/06/2014]
News Release: Section 337 Institution -- Certain Personal Transporters, Components Thereof, and Manuals Therefor [11/05/2014]
Commission Vote -- Certain Kitchen Appliance Shelving and Racks from China [11/04/2014]
Airline Consumer Complaints Up From Previous Year
U.S. Department of Transporation (DOT) / http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room/airline-consumer-complaints-previous-year
WASHINGTON – Airline consumer complaints filed with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division during the first nine months of this year were up 18.2 percent from the first nine months of 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report released today.
From January to September 2014, the Department received 12,350 consumer complaints, up from the total of 10,444 filed during the first nine months of 2013. In September, the Department received 1,157 complaints about airline service from consumers, up 14.2 percent from the 1,013 complaints received in September 2013, but down 27.8 percent from the total of 1,602 filed in August 2014.
All of the complaints received by DOT are reviewed to determine the extent to which carriers are in compliance with federal aviation consumer protection regulations. The Department also routinely has discussions with individual carriers when it notices spikes or significant variations in complaint types or complaint levels.
The consumer report also includes data on tarmac delays, on-time performance, cancellations, chronically delayed flights, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by the reporting carriers. In addition, the consumer report contains information on airline bumping, mishandled baggage reports filed by consumers with the carriers, and disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. The consumer report also includes reports of incidents involving the loss, death, or injury of pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.
Tarmac Delays
In September, airlines reported one tarmac delay of more than three hours on a domestic flight and no tarmac delays of more than four hours on international flights. The reported tarmac delay is under investigation by the Department.
On-Time Performance
The reporting carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 81.1 percent in September, down from the 83.8 percent on-time rate in September 2013, but up from the 77.7 percent mark in August 2014.
Cancellations
The reporting carriers canceled 1.4 percent of their scheduled domestic flights in September, up from both the 0.9 percent cancellation rate posted in September 2013 and the 1.2 percent rate in August 2014.
Chronically Delayed Flights
At the end of September, there was one flight that was chronically delayed – more than 30 minutes late more than 50 percent of the time – for three consecutive months. There were an additional five regularly scheduled flights that were chronically delayed for two consecutive months. There were no chronically delayed flights for four consecutive months or more. A list of flights that were chronically delayed for a single month is available from BTS.
Causes of Flight Delays
In September, the carriers filing on-time performance data reported that 5.98 percent of their flights were delayed by aviation system delays, compared to 6.14 percent in August; 6.07 percent by late-arriving aircraft, compared to 7.97 percent in August; 4.82 percent by factors within the airline’s control, such as maintenance or crew problems, compared to 6.01 percent in August; 0.39 percent by extreme weather, compared to 0.68 percent in August; and 0.03 percent for security reasons, equal to 0.03 percent in August.
Weather is a factor in both the extreme-weather category and the aviation-system category. This includes delays due to the re-routing of flights by DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration in consultation with the carriers involved. Weather is also a factor in delays attributed to late-arriving aircraft, although airlines do not report specific causes in that category.
Data collected by BTS also shows the percentage of late flights delayed by weather, including those reported in either the category of extreme weather or included in National Aviation System delays. In September, 28.19 percent of late flights were delayed by weather, down from 35.73 in August and from 32.75 in September 2013.
Detailed information on flight delays and their causes is available on the BTS site at http://www.bts.gov.
Mishandled Baggage
The U.S. carriers reporting flight delays and mishandled baggage data posted a mishandled baggage rate of 2.98 reports per 1,000 passengers in September, up from September 2013’s rate of 2.71, but down from August 2014’s rate of 3.69. For the first nine months of this year, the carriers posted a mishandled baggage rate of 3.71 reports per 1,000 passengers, up from the 3.21 rate recorded during the first nine months of 2013.
Bumping
The report also includes reports of involuntary denied boarding, or bumping, for the third quarter and first nine months of this year from U.S. carriers who also report flight delay information. These carriers posted a bumping rate of 0.70 per 10,000 passengers for the quarter, equal to the 0.70 rate for the third quarter of 2013. For the first nine months of this year, the carriers had a bumping rate of 1.04 per 10,000 passengers, up from the rate of 0.90 posted during the first nine months of 2013.
Incidents Involving Pets
In September, carriers reported no incidents involving the loss, death, or injury of pets while traveling by air, down from both the two reports filed in September 2013 and the 10 reports filed in August 2014.
Complaints About Treatment of Disabled Passengers
The report also contains a tabulation of complaints filed with DOT in September against airlines regarding the treatment of passengers with disabilities. The Department received a total of 59 disability-related complaints in September, up from the total of 53 complaints filed in September 2013, but down from the 83 complaints received in August 2014. For the first nine months of this year, the Department received 609 disability-related complaints, up 14.3 percent from the total of 533 filed during the first nine months of 2013.
Complaints About Discrimination
In September, the Department received six complaints alleging discrimination by airlines due to factors other than disability – such as race, religion, national origin, or sex – up from the total of five recorded in September 2013, but down from the total of seven recorded in August 2014. For the first nine months of this year, the Department received 52 complaints about discrimination, down 10.3 percent from the total of 58 filed during the first nine months of 2013.
Consumers may file their complaints in writing with the Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75, W96-432, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20590; by voice mail at (202) 366-2220 or by TTY at (202) 366-0511; or on the web at www.dot.gov/airconsumer.
Consumers who want on-time performance data for specific flights should call their airline’s reservation number or their travel agent. This information is available on the computerized reservation systems used by these agents. The information is also available on the appropriate carrier’s website.
The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT’s website at
http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer/air-travel-consumer-reports.