September 2010 | Customs & International Trade Law Blog

10 MOST COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

I have been an international trade attorney for over 20 years. In that time, I have represented a few thousand companies involved in the importation, exportation, and international transportation of merchandise. I have seen respectful, efficient U.S. Government employees and the most uncaring bureaucrats, importers who care about the law and others who only care how to get around it, and customs brokers who always try to do the right thing and others who you wonder how they ever passed the broker exam and the background check. I have listed the 10 Most Common Misconceptions in International Trade.

By Jennifer Diaz|2010-09-26T11:58:55-04:00September 26, 2010|Export, Import|7 Comments

Food Facility Registration Mandatory With The U.S. FDA

On December 12, 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) implemented the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. That Act basically required that companies shipping food to the United States must first be registered with the FDA, and that importers of food must provide "prior notice" to the FDA of any particular shipment before it physically arrives in the United States. Over the past 7 years, has the Bioterrorism Act lived up to its expectations to protect the American consumer from eating dangeously contaminated food?

U.S. Customs Seizures and Forfeitures are Unique

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizes and forfeits hundreds of millions of dollars of merchandise every year. The IRS, DEA, Postal Service, and other Federal agencies also have the legal authority to seized and forfeit merchandise that were allegedly used illegally or were proceeds of alleged illegal activity, but CBP administrative and judicial forfeiture proceedures are unique. The answer is that seizes by CBP typically are not included within the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 (CAFRA).

By Jennifer Diaz|2010-09-06T20:32:26-04:00September 6, 2010|Seizures|8 Comments