November 2009

As a Subscriber, You Are Invited to This Thursday’s Holiday Party

With the overwhelmingly positive response to my new Customs and International Trade Blog, I am inviting each of you to the Customs and International Trade Department’s Holiday Party, this Thursday, December 3, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at my Coral Gables, Florida, office.

Where: 121 Alhambra Plaza, 10th Floor (parking provided in the building)

The following link contains a Map to Coral Gables Office.

Plenty of food and drink provided, so just bring your holiday cheer.

RSVP required to Jennifer Diaz at jdiaz@becker-poliakoff.com or 305-260-1053.

By Jennifer Diaz|2021-04-09T12:57:31-04:00November 29, 2009|Best Practices, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|0 Comments

Bid Now for Right to Ship Chicken Legs to Nicaragua

Nicaragua
Central America Poultry Export Quota, Inc. (CA-PEQ)
Notice of Open Tender
Bids open: November 20, 2009
Bids due: December 4, 2009

Central American Poultry Export Quota, Inc. (CA-PEQ) invites bids for the right to ship U.S.-origin chicken leg quarters to Nicaragua duty-free under a CAFTA tariff-rate quota granted by the Republic of Nicaragua to the United States. The export item is chicken leg quarters, (SAC Nos. 0207.13.93; 0207.14.93; 1602.32.00.10 which correspond respectively to HTS Nos. 0207.13.99.20; 0207.14.99.20 and 1602.32.00A referred to in the text of CAFTA-DR). The product must be imported into Nicaragua between January 1st and December 31, 2010. Certificates of Quota Allocation are being offered duringthis open tender for 487 metric tons in total.

Any person or entity incorporated or domiciled, and with a legal address, in the United States is eligible to bid. Bids must be received by CA-PEQ not later than 5 p.m. (EST) on December 4th, 2009. The minimum bid quantity is 1 metric ton; the minimum bid price is $22.04/metric ton. Bids must be submitted in dollars and cents per metric ton. Bids should not be submitted in amounts that include fractions of a cent. If a bid is received in an amount that includes fractions of a cent, the administrator will ignore the fractions of a cent and consider only the amount that was […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2021-03-26T14:41:34-04:00November 24, 2009|FDA Issues, Food, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)|0 Comments

Everything You Need to Know About Exporting

In the next few weeks, I am giving lectures and doing a webinar on the general topic of export compliance. In my legal practice over the past 20 years as a Customs and International Trade attorney, I am increasingly involved with clients on export compliance and penalty matters. The laws and regulations have changed dramatically over the past few years, as has the name and number of Federal agencies enforcing them, plus the penalties for non-compliance are much higher now.

Please call (305) 260-1053 with any questions regarding the below seminar/webinar (or compliance generally).

(1) On Wednesday, November 18, from 9 to 12 noon at the Doubletree Miami Mart, on behalf of the Florida Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association, I am lecturing on complying with the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) requirements. The seminar is entitled “Export Controls Compliance and Best Business Practices,” and it will cover everything from identifying the correct ECCN (Export Commodity Classification Number) in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), to submitting an export license, to the decrementing of the license by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to interacting with Special Agents of the BIS’s Office of Export Enforcement conducting an investigation, to negotiating a favorable resolution after a Notice of Proposed Penalty has been issued against the company for an export violation. I will also cover the various trade embargoes and sanctions with countries and foreign nationals […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2015-11-30T19:44:20-05:00November 16, 2009|Export, U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)|0 Comments

I am Not Worried That My Food Is “Safe”, Are You?

The United States Congress is considering legislation to make the food we eat, especially imported food, “safe and secure”. In my opinion, even if our food needs protecting, the proposed legislation only adds to the current Federal bureaucracy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already has a comprehensive regulatory procedure to stop, examine, and refuse imported food which it considers adulterated or misbranded, or otherwise not fit for human (or animal) consumption. The current FDA system is working very well, and the only achievement of the proposed legislation will be to increase the price of food. We need enforcement of the current laws, not a bunch of new laws.

Granted, there are numerous instances of imported food making people sick, and even causing death. 15% of the food we eat is imported. Nevertheless, the overwhelming number of Americans who get sick or die from consuming food had nothing to do with imported food. You may get sick at your local restaurant with food poisoning because of the poor handling of the food at the restaurant, not because the food came from overseas.

Currently, for any food to enter the United States, the importer must submit an electronic entry to both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the FDA. The entry information includes the name of the importer, a description of the imported food, the name of its manufacturer, the country of origin, the value, the buyer of the food, and where the food is to be delivered. The requirements of the

By Jennifer Diaz|2015-12-28T14:13:54-05:00November 10, 2009|FDA Issues, Food, Import|0 Comments

U.S. Customs Seized My Merchandise: Now What? / La Aduana de los Estados Unidos Incautó Mi Mercancía: ¿Qué Hago Ahora?

Every day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the airports, seaports, and other border crossings, stop, examine, detain, and seize merchandise from both travelers and commercial cargo importers and exporters. The process of getting back your property can be a harrowing one fraught with bureaucratic delays. There is, fortunately, a set of rules that U.S. Customs must follow, and knowing those rules will give you an advantage.

Customs officers may examine cargo to look for illegal drugs, counterfeit merchandise, merchandise from a country with which the U.S. has an embargo, food or medical devices not approved by the FDA, or motorcycles not approved by the EPA, just to name a few examples.

While the cargo is being held by U.S. Customs, it is transferred to a Centralized Examination Station (CES) where the cargo is separated and intensively examined by Customs officers. U.S. Customs has 35 days from the date of arrival of the cargo in the United States to detain the merchandise for examination. See 19 CFR 151.16. During that period of time, it is the obligation of U.S. Customs to advise the importer, its customs broker, and/or customs attorney with an explanation for the detention. A written Detention Notice stating the specific reason for the detention should be issued by the U.S. Customs officer.

After 35 days, the Customs Regulations require that the cargo must be seized or released. Unfortunately, this is too often ignored. The problem is that U.S. Customs must rely […]

By Jennifer Diaz|2022-07-08T14:44:31-04:00November 3, 2009|U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)|1 Comment

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