In December 2003, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice announcing that the 2004 annual $125 user fee that is assessed for each permit held by an individual, partnership, association, or corporation is due by February 27, 2004.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted to its Web site information on a series of public meetings that will provide an overview of the FDA's October 10, 2003 interim final rules on the registration of food facilities and the prior notice of imported food shipments.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a set of 40 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), dated February 12, 2004, concerning its final rule which amended the Customs regulations to require the advance electronic presentation of information pertaining to cargo (sea, air, rail, or truck) prior to its being brought into, or sent from, the U.S.

Broker Power has previously reported that effective from February 2, 2004 through April 30, 2004, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is detaining and requesting production documents for, or sending to a laboratory for testing, importations of socks from at most 22 targeted countries.

The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) held a quarterly meeting on February 6, 2004 in Washington, DC to discuss, and receive updates from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials on, various customs and trade issues.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made available on its Web site certain trade statistics, which include lists of the top 5000 Importers for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002, FY 2001, and FY 2000.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has posted to its Web site a third version of its Questions & Answers (Q&A) document regarding the registration of food facilities, which is effective immediately.

Reuters has reported that U.S. lawmakers are unlikely to repeal export tax subsidies that violate global trade rules in time to avoid punitive European Union (EU) trade sanctions on billions of dollars of U.S. goods. According to Reuters, the EU plans to impose a 5% duty on more than $4 billion worth of U.S. exports beginning March 1, 2004 if President Bush has not signed legislation repealing the Foreign Sales Corporation-Extraterritorial Income (FSC-ETI) tax regime. (Reuters Pub 02/13/04, available at http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4355783)

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that USTR Robert Zoellick formally notified Congress, on behalf of the President, of the Administration's intent to initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Thailand.

(a) DSM has a de minimis rate of 0.04%; no cash deposits will be collected but suspension of liquidation will continue