Recent News & Articles

Pursuant to the General Notice (87 FR 46973) published August 1, 2022, adjustments to certain customs user fees and corresponding limitations, as codified in 19 U.S.C. § 58c, will take effect on October 1, 2022. These adjustments are being made in accordance with the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (FAST Act), Public Law …

The Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) ad valorem rate of 0.3464% will NOT change. The MPF minimum and maximum for formal entries (class code 499) will change. The minimum will change from $27.23 to $27.75; and the maximum will change from $528.33 to $538.40. Pursuant to the General Notice (86 FR 40864) published July 29, 2021, …

We recently participated in a conference call with FDA representatives in attendance. During this meeting it was made clear that the FDA would be increasing both remote, and on-site inspections, and reviews of compliance with the FSVP program. Based on their recent experience with FSVP enforcement, the FDA anticipates it will be issuing more warning …

Every year, Customs and Border Protection publishes any updates to their user fees that take effect in the new fiscal year, which for the government is October 1st. In FY 2021, CBP announced by Federal Register notice on July 29th that the following increases are forthcoming. Minimum Merchandise Processing Fee: $27.23 Maximum Merchandise Processing Fee: …

Published on August 2, 2019, in the Federal Register, Customs and Border Protection announced new fee levels for a number of things which affect importers, specifically the minimums and maximums for merchandise processing fee (MPF) for formal and informal entries. The minimum merchandise processing fee for a formal entry is now $26.79. The maximum merchandise …

On July 29th, Customs and Border Protection finally published their long-awaited guidance on how they would handle refunds of GSP entries. GSP, you will recall, was lapsed for two years because of lack of Congressional support. Supporters of GSP were concerned because when the program had lapsed previously, the re-authorization legislation always provided retroactive refunds. In …

The regulations of the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) require that domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food for human or animal consumption in the U.S. register with the FDA. The registration period is open from October 1st through December 31st of every even-numbered year. Registration is once again open. …

When the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Program expired on July 31, 2013, last year, members of the trade believed that the legislation would be renewed with retroactive benefits, weeks or months later, as it had in past years. Fast forward to today, and GSP has still not been renewed.  This is posing a problem …

During his overseas trip in March, the President made several stops, including one in Brussels to consult with leaders of the European Union on creating a trading block. The Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, if enacted, would open both markets to each other products, but there are still some serious hurdles to overcome. Both …

The FDA recently settled a lawsuit with the private Center for Food Safety because the agency consistently missed deadlines for the implementation of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), passed in 2011. FSMA required the agency to create new safety standards within eighteen months.  The FDA missed that deadline.  So the CFS sued and …