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Administrative Law

: Customs Law

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A few news items on note:

Festive Articles

Customs and Border Protection has asked the ITC to study a proposed tariff change to correct the tariff treatment of so-called festive articles that have utilitarian functions. This follows from successful litigation undertaken by my firm that showed that holiday-themed articles, even those that have utilitarian functions, can be entitled to duty-free entry under Chapter 95 of the tariff schedule. The problem is that in an effort to "correct" what Customs viewed as this erroneous classification decision, the modifications to the 2007 tariff schedule made non-revenue neutral changes, which is not a favored result. This tariff study is aimed at correcting that by changing the tariff classification but preserving the duty-free status of the goods. Should this happen, the change will be effective for goods entered on or after February 3, 2007.

Lacey Act

APHIS has published a proposed definition of "common cultivar" and "common crop food" for purposes of Lacey Act compliance. These plants will be exempt from reporting requirements.

A common cultivar will be a plant, other than a tree, that:

has been developed through selective breeding or other means for specific morphological or physiological characteristics; and
is a species or hybrid that is cultivated on a commercial scale; and
is not listed: (1) in an appendix to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); (2) as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 USC 1531 et seq.); or (3) pursuant to any State law that provides for the conservation of species that are indigenous to the State and are threatened with extinction.

A common food crop would be a plant that

has been raised, grown, or cultivated for human or animal consumption, and
is a species or hybrid that is cultivated on a commercial scale; and
is not listed: (1) in an appendix to CITES; (2) as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 USC 1531 et seq.); or (3) pursuant to any State law that provides for the conservation of species that are indigenous to the State and are threatened with extinction.

ITAR

The State Department is going to require Comodity Jurisditction requesssts to be submitted electronically via form DS-4076. Keep in mind that your block 5 descritptions will be published in the CJ determinations list. Keep proprietary information in block 15. This is effective inon Friday, September 3.

Full post as published by Customs Law on August 05, 2010 (boomark / email).