Administrative Law

Here's the deal

Posted on December 31, 2009
I don't moderate comments. I don't get enough to worry about and almost all have been on point and respectful. I've noticed that I am attracting a few more spammy comments and at least on company that sells a NSFW product has posted numerous spam comments...

Eye on Trade

Posted on December 30, 2009
Over at Public Citizen's Eye on Trade blog, they are complaining that CAFTA has no means by which the US can eject a country that has undertaken some anti-democratic action, failed to adopt the rule of law, or otherwise misbehaved. The blog compares that to AGOA, a program in which the President has exactly that power...

Docket Clearing

Posted on December 28, 2009
As the 2009 winds down, the Court of International Trade appears to be clearing its collective desk.Storewall, LLC v. United States involves the classification of wall panels used as store display systems. The panels are made of plastic and affix to a wall via a plastic locator tab...

The Oracle Says: Confirm it in Writing

Posted on December 21, 2009
This case follows in the footsteps of the decision in Aectra Refining and involves the question of what is necessary to perfect a claim for drawback. In this case, the claim was for the drawback of the Harbor Maintenance Tax and the Merchandise Processing Fee...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

The Graceful Injunction

Posted on December 16, 2009
Agro Dutch Industries is technically a dumping case, but it deals with the issue of the impact of liquidation by Customs and Border Protection, so I will deal with it here.This case involves the review of the dumping order covering preserved mushrooms from India...

Seeing Hypocrisy

Posted on December 15, 2009
Often, I disagree with a position adopted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That is the nature of my job. Sometimes I am right, sometimes, I am wrong, and often reasonable minds may differ. What I don't do is see everything that CBP does through the lens of Washington policy makers...

2009 Counterfeit Goods Statistics

Posted on December 08, 2009
Customs and Border Protection has posted its annual report on the seizure of counterfeit merchandise. Here are some highlights:Almost 15,000 seizures of counterfeit merchandiseThe seizures amounted to $260 million in domestic valueThere was a small decline in seizures, which was far smaller than the decline in overall importsChina was the leading source for counterfeitsFootwear was the leading commodity seizedHere is a link to the full report...

It Must Be The Holiday Season

Posted on December 04, 2009
Customs has seized a $1.6 million in counterfeit toys. The merchandise included "knockoff" Barbie dolls and riding toys with unauthorized Jeep labels. Here is the news story.IN a separate event, Customs and Border Protection seized $1.7 million in merchandise bearing counterfeit sports team logos...

Gibson Guitars Raided Under Lacey Act

Posted on November 30, 2009
Just when I thought there was nothing new to blog about . . . .According to news reports, the Gibson Guitar company has been raided by federal agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service enforcing the Lacey Act amendments. The underlying investigation appears to be focused on imports of rosewood from Madagascar...

Seventh Circuit on ITAR

Posted on November 17, 2009
Sometimes it takes a while for things to actually hit the front of my brain. Such is the case with a June 2009 decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals involving an appeal from a criminal conviction under ITAR. In the spirit of "better late than never," here is a summary of U...

Trademark Lawyer FOIA Suit

Posted on November 10, 2009
Here is an interesting footnote to my recent post on Customs and Border Protection's enforcement of intellectual property rights.First, I received an e-mail from some well-respected customs lawyers expressing concerns over Customs' enforcement. The concerns included the timing of infringement decisions and, surprisingly, the fact that Customs' has seized legitimate merchandise bearing registered a trademark on the theory that the registered trademark infringed another registered trademark...

Off Topic: I hate musicals . . . usually.

Posted on November 08, 2009
It has been a while since I have done a purely off-topic post. For purposes of efficiency and recognizing that most visitors to this blog are looking for specific and useful information, I have avoided the "whatever strikes my fancy" kind of post. Facebook has also given me a more appropriate outlet for those topics...

Cruising to Prison

Posted on November 07, 2009
I'm only posting this link because I know there continues to be interest in the policy questions surrounding Customs and Border Protection warrantless searches of electronic storage devices such as laptops and phones.This guy was pulled from the customs line following a cruise...

New IPR Bond

Posted on November 06, 2009
Customs and Border Protection has established a new continuous bond category for intellectual property rights holders to use to secure the release of samples of allegedly infringing merchandise. This will simplify the process of getting samples for analysis for companies that often work with CBP to interdict counterfeits or infringing merchandise...

No Transfer in License Revocation Case

Posted on November 04, 2009
The Court of International Trade has once again dashed the hopes of Arthur Schick to regain his customhouse broker?s license without re-applying for a license from scratch. I previously reported on Mr. Schick?s plight. He had his license summarily revoked after failing, due to illness, to file his triennial status report as required by 19 U...

Miami 2009 & DiCarlo Lecture

Posted on October 28, 2009
I know this is short notice, but if anyone is going to be in Miami tomorrow for the ABA Section of International Law Fall Meeting, please say hello to me. I will be helping to moderate a panel on transfer price for customs and income tax Thursday at 8:30 AM...

Page Slap

Posted on October 22, 2009
It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks and will continue to be. Earlier this week, I participated as co-counsel for the plaintiff in a mock trial sponsored by the Customs and International Trade Bar Association. The trial went reasonably well, although I was surprised by a document I created on which I failed to check the math...

Preference Criterion What?

Posted on October 16, 2009
Recently, I answered a question posted on the ICPA listserv. The question was interesting enough that I will review the substance of it here.Most people generally think of the NAFTA preferences in terms of criteria A through D. These cover the vast majority of compliance issues with B being the leader...

Can the CIT Review What Customs Reviews?

Posted on October 14, 2009
This is a tricky question that was answered in Funai Electric Co. v. United States.The underlying issue has to do with a determination by the International Trade Commission that certain imported digital televisions infringed a U.S. patent. As a result, the ITC issued an exclusion order requiring Customs and Border Protection to prohibit entry of the infringing televisions...

My Service To You

Posted on October 12, 2009
I read Rodrogue, so you don't have to.United States v. Rodrogue involves a technical issue in which the United States attempted to cure defective service on the defendant. Service is the means by which a defendant is notified of a claim against it. If service is not made properly, the Court does not have jurisdiction...

Update: News of the Wierd

Posted on October 06, 2009
Back in August on 2008, I blogged the story of a customs broker who was being investigated after having gone to the Federal Reserve to turn in some battered currency for clean new money. According to the original story, the money was found in Mexico.Yesterday, the Washington Post ran an update on the story...

Epilogue: The Wrath of Kahrs

Posted on October 01, 2009
We are in the final stretch. I hope this is the last post on this case.Kahrs's (grammar note: that looks awful) final argument has to do with 19 USC 1625 and the rule that once Customs has issued an interpretive ruling or settled on a uniform treatment of merchandise, it has to respect that practice...

On the Apostrophe

Posted on September 30, 2009
Garner's The Elements of Legal Style, Rule 2.6 (Oxford, 1991)(emphasis in original) states the following:2.6 Form Singular Possessives by Adding 's to the Singular Form of the NounThe rules holds true regardless of how the word ends: thus, witness's, Jones's, Congress's, and testatrix's...

Kahrs III: What Have I Done Wrong?

Posted on September 29, 2009
Here I sit, painfully aware of my promise to my loyal readers to digest and summarize this Court of International Trade decision in a way that is both accurate and entertaining (well, entertaining to customs lawyers). The opinion is a dry 88 pages long...

And Now, A Word from the CAFC

Posted on September 26, 2009
Before I get to Kahrs III: The Search for Refunds, I want to take a look at Faus Group, Inc. v. U.S., which the Federal Circuit issued yesterday. There are a number of reasons for that. First, Faus is short. Second, it's brevity seems to raise something of an issue...

New Commissioner Nominated

Posted on September 23, 2009
President Obama has finally nominated Alan Bersin to serve at Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. Here is his official bio:Alan Bersin was appointed by Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano in April, 2009 as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Special Representative for Border Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)...

Kahrs II: Revenge of the Import Specialst

Posted on September 23, 2009
Returning now to the saga of Kahrs International, we have some more evidence questions to resolve. Before that, and with all due respect to the guy who complained about my Audi post, I say, "Hey Kahrs, nice floors you have there." I notice only because my kitchen floor is a wreck...

Deem It All!

Posted on September 22, 2009
This post is really background to the next couple posts.The Court of International Trade is not known for disputes over discovery or the admissibility of evidence. But, if you want to see a customs case involving hard-fought battles over evidence, look no further than Kahrs International v...

Dear Audi, Why?

Posted on September 19, 2009
As a far too occasional bike commuter, I feel I should be offended by this ad for the Audi diesel. Audi seems intent on lumping bike commuters, strap hangers, and Segway owners into a larger category of nerds and losers. Of course, only the kick-scooter commuters belong there...

FCPA Goes Hollywood

Posted on September 17, 2009
Here is a little something for those of you out there trying to convince management that compliance is worthwhile. Some folks in Hollywood were apparently not paying attention to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It seems they decided that the best way to get the contract to run the Bangkok Film Festival was to bride the relevant governmental official to the tune of $1...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.