The Wall Street Journal reports that a group within the Food and Drug Administration is pushing to expand certain food-safety practices beyond food processors to cover those who harvest, store, and distribute raw agricultural products. (WSJ dated 11/30/05, www.wsj.com.)
Customs duty
A customs duty is a tariff or tax which a country imposes on goods when they are transported across international borders. Customs Duties are used to protect countries' economies, residents, jobs, and environments, by limiting the flow of imported merchandise, especially restricted and prohibited goods, into the country. The Customs duty rate is a percentage determined by the value of the article purchased in the foreign country and not based on quality, size, or weight. U.S. customs duties are listed in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the 2006 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on milk and cream, fluid or frozen, fresh or sour, provided for in HTS Chapter 4, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 5, will open on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 12 noon E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the 2006 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for dried milk and dried cream provided for in HTS Chapter 4, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 9 will open on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 12 noon E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones with a low-duty quantity of 99,500 kg. (See CBP's notice for list of applicable HTS numbers as well as special instructions on (i) low-duty exclusions for Mexico, and (ii) high-duty reporting instructions for Canada, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, Chile, and Australia.) (QBT-05-546, dated 11/30/05, available at http://www.customs.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/qbt2005/05_546.ctt/05_546.doc.)
CBP has announced that the 2006 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)/Mexico tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on peanuts provided for in HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter VI, U.S. Note 16 will open on Tuesday, January 3, 2006 at 12 noon E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones with a low-duty quantity of 4,815,000 kg.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that the U.S. has reached a trade agreement with the European Union (EU) regarding the EU's May 2004 enlargement, which expanded the EU to include 10 new member countries.
On November 15, 2005, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted a notice to its Web site announcing that the first staged entry period for overshipments of socks originating in China that were exported during the period of October 29, 2004 - October 28, 2005 will open1 on November 29, 2005 at 12:00 p.m. EST or its equivalent in other time zones for approximately 2,121,700 dozen pairs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the 2006 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on dried milk and dried cream as provided for in HTS Chapter 4, Additional U.S. Note (AUSN) 8 will open on Tuesday, January 3, 2005 at 12 noon E.S.T., or its equivalent in other time zones, with a low-duty quantity of 3,321,300 kg. CBP notes that low-duty imports described in HTS Chapter 4, AUSN 8 are subject to agriculture licensing. (See CBP's notice for list of applicable HTS numbers as well as special instructions on (i) when no license is used or presented, (ii) low-duty exclusion for Mexico, and (iii) high-duty reporting instructions for Canada, Mexico, Jordan, Singapore, Chile, and Australia.) (QBT-05-545, dated 11/22/05, available at http://www.customs.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/qbt2005/05_545.ctt/05_545.doc)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice to its Web site announcing that the first staged entry period for overshipments of socks originating in China that were exported during the period of October 29, 2004 - October 28, 2005 will open1 on November 29, 2005 at 12:00 p.m. EST or its equivalent in other time zones for 2,121,700 dozen pairs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice announcing that the following actions with respect to qualifying industrial zones (QIZs) are effective November 16, 2005: (1) the designation of the Central Delta zone of Egypt as a qualifying industrial zone (QIZ), and (2) the expansion of the already-designated Greater Cairo and Suez Canal QIZs in Egypt.
In the November 2, 2005 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (CBPBulletin) (Vol. 39, No. 45), CBP issued notices: (a) proposing to modify a classification ruling and proposing to revoke a classification ruling on glass rods used to make optic fibers, and (b) revoking a classification ruling on a certain white sauce/dairy spread. CBP states that it is also proposing to revoke, or is revoking, any treatment it has previously accorded to substantially identical transactions that are contrary to its position in these notices.