CIT Says No Jurisdiction to Hear CAMLR Case

The Court of International Trade in a Dec. 7 opinion said it does not have jurisdiction to hear importer Southern Cross Seafood's lawsuit challenging the National Marine Fisheries Service's rejection of its application to import Chilean sea bass. Judge Timothy Reif said the preapproval application denial, issued under the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984 (AMLRCA), "does not constitute an embargo or other quantitative restriction," barring jurisdiction under Section 1581(i), the court's "residual" jurisdiction. The U.S. implemented the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resource (CAMLR) Convention, which sets conservation measures globally, via the AMLRCA.