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Priority Trade Issues
Customs has designated 7 Priority Trade Issues (PTIs) as "high-risk areas that can cause significant revenue loss, hurt the U.S. economy, or threaten the health and safety of the American people. These PTIs are reviewed periodically as OT (Office of International Trade) constantly assesses new risks and how it can best enforce the trade laws of the U.S."
To follow are descriptions of each of these areas as defined on the Customs website:
Agriculture
The goal of the Agriculture PTI is to prevent the importation of contaminated, diseased, infested, or adulterated agricultural and food products that could harm the American people, plant and animal agricultural resources, or the economy, while facilitating lawful trade.
Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (ADCVD)
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. The goal of the AD/CVD PTI is to detect and deter circumvention of the AD/CVD law and to liquidate final duties timely and accurately, while facilitating legitimate trade.
Import Safety
The goal of the Import Safety PTI is to help ensure that unsafe products do not enter the commerce of the U.S.
Intellectual Property Rights
The Intellectual Property Rights PTI is focused on the use of targeting, training, audits, international cooperation, and other means to stop the importation of counterfeit and pirated goods that harm our economy and threaten the health, safety and security of the American people.
Penalties
The goal of the Penalties PTI is to ensure that penalties are effective in deterring noncompliance. This requires national direction and uniformity among the 326 ports of entry and 41 Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures field offices, as well as the use of appropriate compliance alternatives and a focus on violations involving other Priority Trade Issues.
Revenue
The goal of the Revenue PTI is to ensure that CBP has effective internal controls to protect the duties and taxes (over $32 billion in 2007) it collects for the U.S. Government, and that its financial reports meet the highest accounting standards.
Textiles
The goal of the Textiles PTI is to ensure that textile imports, which generate more than 40% of the duties collected by CBP, fully comply with applicable laws, regulations, quotas, Free Trade Agreement requirements, and Intellectual Property provisions.
Please visit the following link to read more about these priority trade issues:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/priority_trade/
Customs Inspections of Laptops
A sensitive issue for business travelers, the inspections of laptops was addressed in a recent article by Jayson Ahern, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who asserts Customs' opinion that inspections of Laptop computers are "legal, rare, and essential."
Read the article here: http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/admissability/labtop_inspect.xml
Inbound Containers to require ISO Seals
On August 7, 2008, Federal Register notice advised that "all maritime containers in transit to the U.S. by vessel shall be required to be sealed with a seal meeting the ISO/PAS 17712 standard for sealing containers no later than October 15, 2008."
"Generally, ISO/PAS 17712 requires that container freight seals meet or exceed certain standards for strength and durability so as to prevent accidental breakage, early deterioration (due to weather conditions, chemical action, etc.) or undetectable tampering under normal usage. ISO/PAS 17712 also requires that each seal be clearly and legibly marked with a unique identification number."
The notice states that there are "containers that cannot be readily secured by use of a container freight seal meeting the ISO/PAS 17712 standard. These include tanks, non-standard containers (such as open top containers), or containers that simply cannot accommodate a seal meeting the ISO/PAS 17712 standard (such as custom built containers). These types of containers are not subject to the statutory requirement."
The full Federal Register is available online:
As text file - http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-18174.htm
As pdf file - http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-18174.pdf
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Compliance eNewsletter,
please contact Paul Codere from the Customs Brokerage Department. |
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