The Treasury Department (Treasury) has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda, which contains certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulatory rulemakings (rulemakings).
CBP CROSS Rulings
CBP issues binding advance rulings in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. They issue the rulings to give the trade community transparency of how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction. Common rulings include the tariff classification, country of origin, or free trade agreement applicability of merchandise, among other things. These rulings are available in CBP's Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) database.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published its semi-annual regulatory agenda, which contains certain U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulatory rulemakings (rulemakings).
On May 17, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), etc. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/19/05 news, 05051905, for BP summary.)
The Journal of Commerce reports that registration will begin in May for shippers wishing to participate in a test of PierPass in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, although full implementation of the program will be delayed until late June or early July (from a June 1 target date). PierPass, which will charge an extra $20 per TEU for cargo moving through terminal gates during weekday hours, is an effort to shift more cargo movements to nights and weekends to reduce peak-hour traffic. (JoC, dated 04/18/05, www.joc.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum which informs CBP personnel and the trade community of the impact of a recent federal court case, Bauer Nike Hockey USA, Inc. v. U.S., on the classification of textile merchandise in HTS 9506.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued its weekly quota commodity report as of May 16, 2005. This report includes tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on various products such as beef, tuna, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa powder, tobacco, certain JFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, UAFTA and UCFTA TRQs, etc. This report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, CBTPA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA tariff preference levels (TPLs) for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (CBP's weekly quota commodity report, dated 05/16/05, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
CIT rules that market, not FDA or courts, recognizes a dietary supplement as therapeutic. In Inabata Specialty Chemicals v. U.S., the Court of International Trade (CIT) agreed with the importer and ruled that chondroitin sulfate (CS) entered in bulk powder form and packaged for retail sale as a dietary supplement according to FDA requirements, is classified under HTS 3001.90.0000 (duty-free) as other human or animal substances prepared for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, not elsewhere specified or included.
On May 17, 2005, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2360, the fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), etc.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted the following new or recently reviewed Informed Compliance Publications (ICPs), with May 2005 dates, to its Web site:
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) held its quarterly meeting on May 5, 2005 in Washington, DC during which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials provided an update on various Customs-related issues.