August 2006 |
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International Trade Law Alert |
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Announcing Free Podcasts of Key Trade Officials -- ISA Director Is This Week's Guest GRVR is pleased to announce podcasts of extended conversations with important officials and experts on vital topics to the trade community. These audio recordings are free. You can download them to your iPod or other favorite mp3 player. Once subscribed (called an RSS feed), you will automatically get our podcasts. But you don’t need an iPod to listen to our program. You can also download and listen to them directly from your computer. This month’s featured official is Joseph M. Rees, the Director for the Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Director Rees explains the benefits and risks under the ISA Program. To listen, click here. The guest for our next podcast, which we will post in about a week, is Matthew S. Borman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. The topic is the Bureau of Indstry and Security's proposed "catch-all" rule for exports to China. Click here to go to Export Import Talk.
CBP is targeting importers of timber products. Product specialist teams are cracking down on importers for misclassifying wood, plywood, and timber products, for improper or missing country of origin marking, and for not having the proper records. If you have not been contacted by CBP, you will be. CBP is sending out Requests for Information and Notices of Action like there’s no tomorrow. The financial risks to wood importers can be huge and stem from a change of duty rate and the imposition of penalties. GRVR Attorney has a great deal of experience with imported timber products and with working with CBP. If you would like to consult with one of our attorneys, call 972-747-5016 or email info@exportimportlaw.com. Customs Broker Exam Boot Camp Comes To Tampa, Florida, Sept. 16-17 When our Dallas boot camp sold out, you asked that we hold a second boot camp. We heard you. The most successful and popular customs broker review course is coming to Tampa, Florida from September 16-17 (Saturday and Sunday). The two-day intensive review is designed for the serious student who wants to study and pass the broker exam. Not only do you get the boot camp, but also our online course...all for one price. Our course is popular because our passing rate for our students who complete our entire course is nearly ninety percent. The national passing rate (students who did not take our course or took other courses) ranges between four and thirteen percent. We are so confident in our course that we guarantee you will pass. To find out more information, click here. Compliance Tip: Hack your ITRAC A good compliance program requires that you know what you are importing and where you are importing through. Record keeping varies tremendously among importers. Even seasoned importers with sound compliance programs may be at a disadvantage vis-a-vis enforcement officials. Importers that have not kept good records are at a greater disadvantage. But this is your government. Even in the post-911 era, you have rights and privileges that help you access some of the information in the hands of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). As a citizen, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is one of your best friends. One of the first steps in setting up your import compliance program or in improving an existing one is to ask for your entry information under FOIA. The FOIA program for importers is called Importer Trade Activity, or ITRAC. Your ITRAC data provides you with a wealth of information, including: Port of Lading/Unlading, Country of Origin, Exams, Entry Date, Special Programs, and Liquidation Date. CBP delivers your ITRAC data on a CD formatted on Microsoft Access, a wickedly confusing software. The ITRAC data invariably reveals surprises. You may find yourself uttering: “We imported that?” “Who imported through that port?” “Who has been using our tax ID number?” CBP will charge typcially a couple of hundred dollars, depending what you ask for. You should request your ITRAC at least annually. Members of the Importer Self-Assessment Program get their ITRAC data delivered automatically to them for free. As all other formal filings with enforcement agencies, we advise that you enlist the services of seasoned trade counsel to prepare your ITRAC requests. If you have questions about ITRAC, contact 972-747-5016 or info@exportimportlaw.com. C-TPAT Portal Deadline: One Month Left If you are enrolled in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, you have only a few weeks to post your security profile on the new C-TPAT portal. Many companies, even those certified and validated companies, do not meet the latest C-TPAT security criteria. CBP promises to kick you out of C-TPAT if you fail to post your security profile on time or if your security profile does not meet the new security profile. CBP now has the means to easily carry out its threat now that all your C-TPAT information is automated through the C-TPAT Portal. The C-TPAT Portal creates additional requirements for participants. If you require assistance with C-TPAT, please contact GRVR Attorneys at 972-747-5016 or info@exportimportlaw.com. Back to Compliance School: Go Online, Save On Travel, and Have Fun It’s that time of year to seriously knuckle down with your compliance training, but travel budgets are tight and getting tighter because of rising fuel costs. Thanks to rising security concerns, the lines of airport are so long that moss is starting to grow on weary business travelers. There is a solution. Go online. Our online courses are not only more convenient (they are available 24/7 and you don’t need special software) and less expensive (travel budget: zero), but they are also more effective and fun. You can typically complete a course in an hour or two (with the exception of our customs broker exam prep course). Courses also provide links to important supporting information. We offer courses on a variety of customs, trade, export, and import topics. If you don’t find what you need, we can tailor one for you. You can even outsource your compliance training to us. Courses include:
You can even request a demo. To find out more of our course offerings, click here. History Quiz: The author wrote this novel, his first succcessful one, by building on his personal experiences in a customs house. His novel was America's first ever blockbuster novel with the public, generating needed income for himself. He's related to one of the judges who tried the Salem witches two centuries earlier. Need more clues? Here's an excerpt from the famed Customs House introduction:
If you're still lost, Demi Moore starred in the much-panned 1995 movie version of the novel, a novel about a young woman who has an adulterous affair with Salem's minister. With the minister serving as inquisitor, the town tries the woman, finds here guilty, and forces her to wear a red letter "A" The woman accepts the town's and her secret lover's punishment, even as the minister descends into his private hell of shame. The Answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.
How A Customs Attorney Rescued Mel Gibson To avoid being thrown into the slammer, Mel Gibson must attend almostly daily meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous to try to mend his alcoholic ways. Society, however, did not always treat alcoholics so gingerly. Before Alcoholic Anonymous (AA), alcoholism was viewed solely as a moral failing. It was your own fault if you couldn’t handle the Devil’s brew. With its 12-step program, AA provided the world with a new way of addressing alcoholism. But AA may never even have existed had it not been for a customs attorney. The tale was told recently in the PBS program, the History Detectives. Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA, was having enormous difficulty securing the financial backing for the new group. The Great Depression had stalled the country’s economy. At about the very moment that all seemed lost, Herbert Wallace, a renown and well-heeled customs attorney, provided the fledging group with vital seed money. Herbert Wallace was not an alcoholic, but felt compelled by perhaps kindness or principle to help out anyway. AA and similar groups have helped millions since, but alcoholism and drug abuse are as rampant today as ever. Trade professionals are not immune. The telltale signs are obvious, but the alcoholic somehow manages to ignore them. The person in the throes of alcoholism subverts all she has known to be good and true, but manages to excuse her misdeeds, however outrageous, even in the face of certain ruination and betrayal of family, children, friends, and profession. Mel Gibson can be blamed for a great deal, but acknowledging the problem, as he has done, is a necessary step to recovery. It is for such people that AA was created and for such people that these support groups play a vital role. AA is not universally endorsed (there are many alternatives), but here we offer information on AA and one program offered by the Texas Bar Association: Alcoholics Anonymous
Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program - State Bar of Texas
Introducing Our Web Master: Keith Martin We often get asked, “Who designed your incredible website?” His name is Keith Martin and he does all his work from his cutting-edge studio in London, the UK (we are, after all, an international trade law firm). Part programmer, part designer, part writer, and part technical editor for a major computer magazine, his chimera-like background helps us keep on top of the latest developments in our communications. And as he's a number of hours ahead of Central Standard Time we often get to wake up to site updates! His interests include unicycling and virtual reality panoramic photography. Keith, thanks for making this the most dynamic and popular international trade site anywhere. To contact Keith Martin, go to www.thesmallest.com. |
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The Must-Read Newsletter For International Trade, Import, and Export Professionals |
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In this Edition History Quiz: Famous Customs Novelist |
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WEBINAR: New Export Regulations to China WEBINAR: Doing Business in France and the E.U. Export and Import Compliance Seminar
Main Physical Address:
Mailing Address:
Phone: 972-747-5016 Copyright Notice We wrote this and it belongs to us. We do not mind if you pass it along to others, as long as we get full credit and attribution. But, please, ask our permission first, and do not steal or mangle our words or ideas. ©GRVR Attorneys (2006). Disclaimer You will not find any legal advice anywhere in this newsletter, on our website, or in any course or public lesson we offer. You should not rely on this newsletter to decide on a legal course of action. If you would like legal advice, you need to ask your attorney. GRVR Attorneys provide legal advice only to existing clients in a confidential and private setting, not in public (i.e., not in a newsletter). Subscribing to our newsletter does not make you into one of our clients. If you are looking to hire an international trade attorney, we would love to hear from you. The GRVR Attorney responsible for the contents of this newsletter is Oscar Gonzalez. He can be reached at 972-747-5016 or info@exportimportlaw.com. |
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