CBP CROSS Rulings

According to Journal of Commerce Online, as part of the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address, House Minority Leader Pelosi called for the physical inspection of all ocean containers entering the U.S., charging that the Bush administration's inspection standard is too low to protect the U.S. from terrorism. (JoC Online, 01/21/04, www.joc.com )

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice on its Web site announcing that the next Customs Broker Licensure Examination will be held on Monday, April 5, 2004.

The Winter 2003 issue of the NCBFAA Quarterly Bulletin contains an article that states that miscellaneous tariff and trade bills are no longer routine, are not predictable, and may not even be possible. The article notes that such bills have increasingly become the vehicle for solving larger, tougher trade and economic issues that have nothing to do with the tedious technical language of miscellaneous tariff and trade bills. (NBFAA Quarterly Bulletin, No. 103-4, Winter 2003, www.ncbfaa.org.)

The European Union (EU) is requesting World Trade Organization (WTO) authorization to apply retaliatory sanctions against the U.S. for its failure to bring the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (Byrd Amendment) into conformity with WTO rules by December 27, 2003. The EU states that this deadline for compliance with the WTO Appellate Body's ruling passed without action from U.S. Congress to repeal the measure.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.

In the January 7, 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 2), CBP issued a notice proposing to modify a classification ruling regarding certain knit camisoles. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in this notice.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a final rule which amends the Customs Regulations effective January 5, 2004 regarding the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S. (See final rule for compliance dates for each transportation mode.)

The Journal of Commerce (JoC) has reported that the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Mexican trucks should be subject to environmental reviews before being allowed to travel on U.S. roads. According to JoC, such trucks have been unable to operate in the U.S. because of a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that environmental reviews must be completed before the trucks are allowed into the U.S. (JoC 12/22/03 - 01/04/04, www.joc.com)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a proposed rule that would amend the Customs Regulations with regard to administrative forfeiture proceedings by raising the threshold value of seized property for which it must publish a "notice of seizure and intent to forfeit" in a newspaper.

In the December 31, 2003 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBP Bulletin) (Vol. 38, No. 1), CBP issued notices (a) modifying a classification ruling regarding a women's camisole, and (b) revoking or modifying six classification rulings on certain hand tools. CBP states that it is also revoking any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.