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April 30, 2012
In a Federal Register notice published April 24, 2012 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of the Treasury issued an interim rule allowing CBP to detain merchandise suspected of bearing counterfeit trademarks or trade names for up to 30 days and providing for the disclosure of information to the intellectual property right (IPR) holder in order to verify validity. As stated in the notice, the interim rule permits CBP "to disclose to an intellectual property right holder information appearing on merchandise or its retail packaging that may comprise information otherwise protected by the Trade Secrets Act, for the purpose of assisting CBP in determining whether the merchandise bears a counterfeit mark." During this determination process the goods may be detained for up to 30 days, with the option of extending that period an additional 30 days. Information provided to the IPR holder may include, but is not limited to: Information may also be in the form of photographs or a sample of the goods and/or their retail packaging. The rule is effective April 24, 2012. Comments must be received by June 25, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs, CBP) publishes directives related to absolute and tariff-rate quotas for both textile and non-textile commodities on the agency's "Quota Book Transmittals (QBTs)" web page. Customs' "QBT" page provides notices of quota opening and closing dates, lists quota levels assigned for given products and quota periods and provides special instructions for the processing of quota entries and on other quota-related issues. Recent QBT directives include the following: Customs' 2012 QBTs can be accessed online at:
In a Federal Register notice published April 11, 2012 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in which they stated their intention to harmonize the current Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to the provisions recently adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in regards to the transportation of lithium cells and batteries. The notice of proposed rulemaking states that "the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel has met several times and devoted considerable discussion to the provisions applicable to the air transport of lithium cells and batteries. As a result, there have been many changes in the ICAO standards applicable to the air transport of lithium cells and batteries. Given the increased efficiency and clarity in having a uniform global standard, PHMSA considers harmonization with international standards when there is no adverse impact to safety." Changes adopted by the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel include: The Federal Register notice also invited comments from interested persons regarding the impact of the proposed changes. Comments are due by May 11, 2012.
The new changes to the ICAO regulations can be found at:
________________________________________ Tons News is compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Tons knowledge, are true and correct. It is our intent to present only accurate information. However, in the event any information contained herein is erroneous, Tons accepts no liability or responsibility.
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