At today's Food and Drug Law Institute's annual conference in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. said that one of her priorities is responding to the globalization of the food supply, and the increase in misbranded and adulterated food products imported into the United States
The annual conference of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) just concluded in San Antonio, Texas. Several prominent speakers from U.S. Customs, the Federal Maritime Commission, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Industry and Security, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Transportation Security Administration, and the Department of Homeland Security discussed new policies and procedures that every customs broker and international freight forwarder should use to serve their import and export clients.
On January 11, 2010, I posted "You Ready for 100% Cargo Screening by the TSA" because at that time, the international aviation industry was not prepared for the implementation on August 1, 2010 of the TSA mandated 100% screening of air cargo aboard passenger planes. The date is fast approaching, and shippers, indirect air carriers (freight forwarders) and airlines which need to get "on board" should attend an important seminar.
I just returned from a wonderful trip to both Italy and Israel, and I can't help but compare our Transportation Security Administration (TSA) procedures to that of other countries. In both Italy and Israel, I did not have to take off my shoes or follow the all too familiar 3-1-1 TSA enforced liquid policy. Yet, on April 2, 2010, Department of Homeland Secretary Napolitano announced another set of security measures that hassle passengers who travel by air.