U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a memorandum dated February 17, 2004, amending its November 7, 2002 implementing instructions for non-textile products under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).

The Journal of Commerce (JoC) reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may face a manpower problem as it begins to enforce export compliance as well as import. According to JoC, the Trade Act of 2002 requires exporters to go through roughly the same advance-reporting requirements as importers but the number of CBP inspectors on the export side is currently outnumbered more than 10 to 1 by the import staff. (JoC Pub 03/29 -04/04/04 www.joc.com)

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule, effective March 30, 2004, which, among other things, amends the Commerce Control List (CCL) to remove "National Security " (NS) controls from, and to impose "Regional Stability" (RS) controls on, certain items in order to conform with certain provisions of the Export Administration Act (Act), which limits the duration of U.S. unilaterally imposed NS controls.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has again updated its information on its upcoming seminars at nine airports on the advance electronic information requirements for inbound air cargo. CBP has updated its previously updated information in order to:

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued the final results of its changed circumstances reviews of the countervailing (CV) duty orders on certain corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products and cut-to-length carbon steel plate products from Germany. As a result, the ITA is revoking these CV duty orders for entries of subject merchandise with a time of entry on or after April 1, 2004.

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has initiated administrative reviews of the following antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty orders for the specified companies listed in the ITA notice:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the following vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs) have become Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) operational:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that the U.S. and Panama will begin negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) during the week of April 26, 2004. According to the press release, these negotiations will be held in Panama City. (Press Release 2004-26, dated 03/26/04, available at http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2004/03/04-26.pdf)

On March 26, 2004, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) published two notices denying two petitions submitted by Levi Strauss and Co. which had alleged that certain fusible interlining fabrics classified under HTS 5903.90.2500 could not be supplied by the domestic industry in commercial quantities in a timely manner.