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House
passes Bahrain FTA
9 Dec 2005,
JOC Online
The House of
Representatives passed the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement by a vote
of 327 to 95.
more...
U.S.,
Peru in trade pact
8 Dec 2005,
JOC Online
The United States and
Peru have completed a bilateral free-trade agreement.
more...
US May
Accept Duty-Free, Quota-Free Initiative for LDCs
7 Dec 2005,
ST&R
US Trade
Representative (USTR) Rob Portman said for the first time on December
3 that the US is “going to be able to embrace the concept” of
duty-free and quota-free treatment for imports from least-developed
countries (LDCs).
more...
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U.S. groups oppose EU trade plan
7 Dec 2005,
JOC Online
Industry groups in
the U.S. are calling on the Bush Administration to reject an EU
proposal calling for unrestricted textile and apparel exports from
poor nations such as Bangladesh and Cambodia.
more...
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BILATERAL AND REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
LIST
In
recent
years there have been so many bilateral and regional trade
agreements that it can be hard to keep up with them. If you want
to read up on these agreements, go to the
Bilateral and Regional Trade
Agreements list, a page at Michigan State
University's Globaledge site. You'll find a comprehensive list
of links to agreements, explanations, documents, forms, and
histories that could affect your business |
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When
you call us at M.E. Dey during regular business hours, we make every
effort to see that your call is quickly answered by one of our
knowledgeable,
helpful staff.
But for those
thousands of companies around the world that make you wade
through a sea of prerecorded messages, here's the website that
you may have read about or seen on TV, and
a way to get around those messages.
IVR Cheat Sheet™ has
instructions on what you can do to connect to a human at various
companies
including finance, government, technology, shipping, retail and
more. |
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I M P O R T |
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E X P O R T |
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US Wipes Out Actions On Import Safeguard Petitions
9 Dec 2005
Carson Int'l
The US government has
suspended action on some 24 import safeguard petitions covering 42
categories of Chinese imports of textiles and apparel and released
products that were embargoed earlier this year. The products had been
held in bonded warehouses because they exceeded permissible quota
levels.
more...
Benefits for Tier-3 C-TPAT Members
2 Dec 2005,
JOC Online
US Customs and Border
Protection’s Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations
(COAC) has proposed 12 benefits that US Customs can offer importers
who qualify as “Tier 3” members of C-TPAT. These importers already
exceed the minimum requirements for C-TPAT, and are seeking enhanced
benefits from Customs that recognize their commitment and investment
to the program.
These steps would not
require changes in law or regulations. The proposals are for:
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permission to remotely file selected quota, warehouse and foreign
trade zone entries
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allowance of paperless entries, unless a paper document is required by
another government agency
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expedited drawback claims
•
new formulas for calculating transaction and continuous bonds
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zero security inspections, unless there is a specific reason to check
security
•
expedited response to rulings requests
•
updated mitigation guidelines
•
multiple suffixes to nine-digit IRS numbers
•
expedited background checks
•
requests for further information to be cleared by national account
manager
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no penalties for late duty payments (only interest would accrue)
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opportunity to take corrective action or disclose errors before
seizures, fines or penalties
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Customs and Border Protection will consider these suggestions;
doubtless there are concerns with proposals affecting revenue
collection. |
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DOC
Notes Foreign Regulatory Changes That Could Affect US Exports
7 Dec 2005,
ST&R
According to the
DOC’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the WTO
has been notified by the following countries of proposed regulatory
changes that may affect US exports of the products indicated. • Costa
Rica - Clinical thermometers • Thailand - Solvent • Thailand -
Conformity assessment.
Confidence was aplenty at
the Australian Customs Service...
when the Integrated Cargo
System was launched in October. It was and is a mess. In the days
after launch, as cargo piled up at airports and docks around
Australia, Customs maintained its system was not causing the problems.
The agency stuck with its initial strategy of blaming users for inputting incorrect information.
Customs admits a secret internal report warned that its mainframe
capacity was insufficient to run the new software, but had scheduled a
post-launch increase to handle the demand. While internal emails and
sources have said the system was losing messages, the agency denies
this. Problem number one, according to sources, was that Customs was
not heeding industry advice on system design. Problem number two was
that Customs was under political pressure to move to the new system,
and was approaching a deadline to shift from its old Unisys mainframe.
The biggest problem was the amount of detail the new system required.
Dots, dashes and spaces all had to be in the same place, causing big
problems for the industry.
WI exporters look to China
The
U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service Milwaukee U.S. Export
Assistance Center released data citing Wisconsin small and
medium-sized enterprises
exporting to China increased...
more...
Chinese Boat Buying Delegation
Visits State
A Boat Buyer
delegation from China had a successful visit to Wisconsin in November.
The delegation was composed of marina developers, boat/yacht
manufacturers, potential agents and China Boat Association
representatives.
more... |
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The Shipper's
Export Declaration (SED), Commerce Form 7525-V, is used for
compiling the official U.S. export statistics for the United
States and for export control purposes.
Generally an SED is not
required when the value of commodities classified under each
individual Schedule B number is $2,500 or less and for which an
export license is not required, except that a SED is required for
exports destined to Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Serbia,
(excluding Kosovo), Sudan, and Syria.
SEDs can be filed either
as a hard copy or electronically. The U.S. Census Bureau and the
U.S. Customs Service jointly offer an electronic method for filing
shipper's export declaration information known as the Automated
Export System AES. Participants in the AES include but not
limited to exporters (U.S. principal party in interest) and
forwarding or other agents. Once certified by the Census Bureau,
participants may file shipper's export data electronically using
the AES in lieu of filing an individual paper SED for each
shipment. The Census Bureau also offers a free Internet service
for filing SED information through the AES called AESDirect. For
additional information on AES and AESDirect go to the Foreign
Trade Division web sites at:
www.census.gov/foreign-trade or
www.aesdirect.gov
Remember if you file
your own SEDs, you must maintain copies of shipping documents for
a period of 5 years for statistical purposes. Additional record
retention requirements for licensed shipments appear in the Export
Administration Regulations. Exporters or their agents must also
be aware of the record retention policies of other Government
agencies.
M.E.
Dey can handle all your filing needs when we forward your
shipments internationally. For a nominal fee we can remove the
pressure of having to complete the information within the time
limits and store the SED for the 5 years. Contact M.E. Dey at
414-747-7000 or email us at
info@medey.com for more information. |
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U. S. CUSTOMS AND
BORDER PROTECTION |
  C-TPAT
program improvements are in the pipeline,
CBP official say
6 Dec 2005,
American Shipper
U.S. Customs and
Border Protection has begun to meet industry demands to speed up the
validation process for companies participating in the Customs-Trade
Partnership Against Terrorism.
more...
First Electronic Truck Manifest Filed on
Southern Border
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Washington, D.C.
— The southern border had its first electronic manifest (e-Manifest)
for trucks filed with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on
December 7, 2005 in Nogales, Arizona and processing can begin even
before the truck arrives at the gate, minimizing wait times at the
border and resulting in faster delivery times and increased profits.
more...
U.S.
Joins Revised World Customs Organization Convention
Textiles and Quotas
As a
result of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC),
a full integration of textiles and textile apparel manufactured in
countries that are WTO members will commence on 1 January 2005. This
is the fourth and final phase of the integration. In recognition of
the inevitable end of the quota system, the Bureau of Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) has launched a new web page "to provide
information to CBP field personnel and the trade relating to the final
phase of the integration". The new web site will include items such as
Quota Bulletin Transmittals (QBT), Textile Bulletin Transmittals (TBT),
and Federal Register notices related to the elimination of
quotas. The page also will include a list of frequently asked
questions. It is located at
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/. |
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Customs Update: Textile enforcement problems
5 Dec 2005,
JOC Online
The issues faced by
Customs and industry regarding textiles are far from over.
Some of
the contentiousness ended on Nov. 8, 2005 with the signing of a new
Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and China establishing
quotas on selected categories of textile goods. Another element of the
new agreement involves re-establishing ELVIS, the electronic visa
system. So, after figuring out whether or not your goods are covered
by a category under quota starting in 2006, the very next thing every
textile trader is focused on is how China will allocate quota and how
quickly it will again start to be traded.
more...
Newly-merged port to start operations January 1
THE
newly-merged Ningbo-Zhoushan Port officially came into operation on
January 1, creating the third largest port in the world in years to
come.
more...
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Chinese Lunar New Year holiday schedule
Jan 28 ~ Feb 2
in Taiwan Jan 28 ~ 31 in Hong Kong
Jan 29 ~ Feb 4 in China |
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Wisconsin Credit Association
2006
SCHEDULE OF EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS
Check out the wide variety of offerings
throughout the year from the WCA
ICE meeting
JANUARY 24, 2006 MEETING:
EXPORT COMPLIANCE: Opportunities, Challenges and Resources
MWTA Winter Social! Thursday,
January 19, 2006 Flannery’s Bar and Restaurant - EAST BAR
February Program
http://www.mwta.com/Events2.asp
Thursday, February 2, 2006
4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. Radisson Hotel
Milwaukee West 2303 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, WI
Read more
January 11 - 13, 2006
- Jacksonville, Florida - AAPA Facilities Engineering Seminar.
Contact: (703) 684-5700 or visit
http://www.aapa-ports.org
January 30 - 31, 2005
- Washington, D.C. - MarineLog Maritime and Port Security 2006
Conference and Expo. http://www.marinelog.com
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Advance Electronic Cargo FAQ- Updated December
15, 2005
U.S. CBP Initiative
under the Trade Act 2002: Frequently Asked Questions about Advance
Cargo Reporting
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The Best of 2005
Lists of the best of 2005 in just about
any category you can imagine
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