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Occasionally,
FITA sends "Really Useful Sites for International Trade Professionals"
subscribers information about goods and services offered to the worldwide
international trade community. We hope you can take advantage of these
services and recommend them to your colleagues. |
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August 2006 |
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International Trade Law Alert |
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Announcing Free Podcasts of Key Trade
Officials --
ISA Director Is This Week GRVR is
pleased to announce podcasts of extended conversations with important
officials and experts on vital topics to the trade community. These audio
recordings are free. You can download them to your iPod or other favorite
mp3 player. Once subscribed (called an RSS feed), you will automatically
get our podcasts. But you don’t need an iPod to listen to our program. You
can also download and listen to them directly from your
computer. This month’s
featured official is Joseph M. Rees, the Director for the Importer
Self-Assessment (ISA) program, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Director Rees explains the benefits and risks under the ISA Program. To
listen, click here.
The guest for
our next podcast, which we will post in about a week, is Matthew S.
Borman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.
The topic is the Bureau of Indstry and Security Click here to go to Export Import Talk.
CBP is
targeting importers of timber products. Product specialist
teams are cracking down on importers for misclassifying wood, plywood, and
timber products, for improper or missing country of origin marking, and
for not having the proper records. If you have not been contacted by CBP,
you will be. CBP is sending out Requests for Information and Notices of
Action like there’s no tomorrow. The financial risks to wood importers can
be huge and stem from a change of duty rate and the imposition of
penalties. GRVR Attorney has a great deal of experience with
imported timber products and with working with CBP. If you would like to
consult with one of our attorneys, call 214.720.7720 or email info@exportimportlaw.com. Customs Broker Exam Boot Camp Comes
To When our
Our course is
popular because our passing rate for our students who complete our entire
course is nearly ninety percent. The national passing rate (students who
did not take our course or took other courses) ranges between four and
thirteen percent. We are so confident in our course that we guarantee you
will pass. To find out more information, click here.
Compliance Tip: Hack your
ITRAC A good
compliance program requires that you know what you are importing and where
you are importing through. Record keeping varies tremendously among
importers. Even seasoned importers with sound compliance programs may be
at a disadvantage vis-a-vis enforcement officials. Importers that have not
kept good records are at a greater disadvantage.
But this is
your government. Even in the post-911 era, you have rights and privileges
that help you access some of the information in the hands of US Customs
and Border Protection (CBP). As a citizen, the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) is one of your best friends. One of the
first steps in setting up your import compliance program or in improving
an existing one is to ask for your entry information under FOIA. The FOIA
program for importers is called Importer Trade Activity, or ITRAC. Your
ITRAC data provides you with a wealth of information, including: Port of
Lading/Unlading, Country of Origin, Exams, Entry Date, Special Programs,
and Liquidation Date. CBP delivers
your ITRAC data on a CD formatted on Microsoft Access, a wickedly
confusing software. The ITRAC data
invariably reveals surprises. You may find yourself uttering: “We imported
that?” “Who imported through that port?” “Who has been using our tax ID
number?” CBP will
charge typcially a couple of hundred dollars, depending what you ask for.
You should request your ITRAC at least annually. Members of the Importer
Self-Assessment Program get their ITRAC data delivered automatically to
them for free. As all other
formal filings with enforcement agencies, we advise that you enlist the
services of seasoned trade counsel to prepare your ITRAC
requests. If you have questions about ITRAC, contact
214.720.7720 or info@exportimportlaw.com. C-TPAT Portal Deadline: One Month
Left If you are
enrolled in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT)
program, you have only a few weeks to post your security profile on the
new C-TPAT portal. Many companies, even those certified and validated
companies, do not meet the latest C-TPAT security criteria. CBP promises
to kick you out of C-TPAT if you fail to post your security profile on
time or if your security profile does not meet the new security profile.
CBP now has the means to easily carry out its threat now that all your
C-TPAT information is automated through the C-TPAT Portal. The C-TPAT
Portal creates additional requirements for
participants. If you require assistance with C-TPAT, please
contact GRVR Attorneys at 214.720.7720 or info@exportimportlaw.com. Back to It’s that time
of year to seriously knuckle down with your compliance training, but
travel budgets are tight and getting tighter because of rising fuel costs.
Thanks to rising security concerns, the lines of airport are so long that
moss is starting to grow on weary business travelers.
There is a
solution. Go online. Our online courses are not only more convenient (they
are available 24/7 and you don’t need special software) and less expensive
(travel budget: zero), but they are also more effective and fun. You can
typically complete a course in an hour or two (with the exception of our
customs broker exam prep course). Courses also provide links to important
supporting information. We offer
courses on a variety of customs, trade, export, and import topics. If you
don’t find what you need, we can tailor one for you. You can even
outsource your compliance training to us. Courses
include:
You can even
request a demo. To find out more of our course offerings, click
here. History Quiz:
The author
wrote this novel, his first succcessful one, by building on his personal
experiences in a customs house. His novel was Need more
clues? Here But the object
that most drew my attention, in the mysterious package, was a certain
affair of fine red cloth, much worn and faded. There were traces about it
of gold embroidery, which, however, was greatly frayed and defaced; so
that none, or very little, of the glitter was left. It had been wrought,
as was easy to perceive, with wonderful skill of needlework; and the
stitch (as I am assured by ladies conversant with such mysteries) gives
evidence of a now forgotten art, not to be recovered even by the process
of picking out the threads. This rag of scarlet cloth,--for time, and
wear, and a sacrilegious moth, had reduced it to little other than a
rag,--on careful examination, assumed the shape of a letter. It was the
capital letter A. By an accurate measurement, each limb proved to be
precisely three inches and a quarter in length. It had been intended,
there could be no doubt, as an ornamental article of dress; but how it was
to be worn, or what rank, honor, and dignity, in by-past times, were
signified by it, was a riddle which (so evanescent are the fashions of the
world in these particulars) I saw little hope of solving. And yet it
strangely interested me. My eyes fastened themselves upon the old scarlet
letter, and would not be turned aside. Certainly, there was some deep
meaning in it, most worthy of interpretation, and which, as it were,
streamed forth from the mystic symbol, subtly communicating itself to my
sensibilities, but evading the analysis of my
mind If
you The Answer:
Nathaniel
Hawthorne, The Scarlet
Letter. How A Customs Attorney Rescued Mel
Gibson To avoid being
thrown into the slammer, Mel Gibson
must attend almostly daily meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous to try to mend
his alcoholic ways. Society, however, did not always treat alcoholics so
gingerly. Before Alcoholic Anonymous (AA), alcoholism was viewed solely as
a moral failing. It was your own fault if you couldn’t handle the Devil’s
brew. With its 12-step program, AA provided the world with a new way of
addressing alcoholism. But AA may never even have existed had it not been
for a customs attorney. The tale was
told recently in the PBS program, the History
Detectives. Bill Wilson,
the co-founder of AA, was having enormous difficulty securing the
financial backing for the new group. The Great Depression had stalled the
country’s economy. At about the very moment that all seemed lost, Herbert
Wallace, a renown and well-heeled customs attorney, provided the fledging
group with vital seed money. Herbert Wallace was not an alcoholic, but
felt compelled by perhaps kindness or principle to help out
anyway. AA and similar
groups have helped millions since, but alcoholism and drug abuse are as
rampant today as ever. Trade professionals are not immune. The telltale
signs are obvious, but the alcoholic somehow manages to ignore them. The
person in the throes of alcoholism subverts all she has known to be good
and true, but manages to excuse her misdeeds, however outrageous, even in
the face of certain ruination and betrayal of family, children, friends,
and profession. Mel Gibson can
be blamed for a great deal, but acknowledging the problem, as he has done,
is a necessary step to recovery. It is for such
people that AA was created and for such people that these support groups
play a vital role. AA is not universally endorsed (there are many
alternatives), but here we offer information on AA and one program offered
by the Texas Bar Association: Alcoholics
Anonymous
Texas Lawyers’
Assistance Program - State Bar of Texas
Introducing Our Web Master: Keith
Martin We often get
asked, “Who designed your incredible website?” His name is Keith Martin
and he does all his work from his cutting-edge studio in Keith, thanks
for making this the most dynamic and popular international trade site
anywhere. To contact Keith Martin, go to http://www.thesmallest.com/. |
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The Must-Read Newsletter For International Trade,
Import, and Export Professionals |
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Subscription Notice: You are not subscribed to
this newsletter and will not receive future emails unless you subscribe.
Subscriptions are free. To subscribe, please email http://www.exportimportlaw.com/newsletters/index.phpand
ask for a subscription. |
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In this
Edition History Quiz:
Famous Customs Novelist |
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WEBINAR: New
Export Regulations to China WEBINAR:
Doing Business in France and the
E.U. Export and Import Compliance
Seminar
Main Physical Address: Mailing Address: Phone: 214.720.7720 Copyright
Notice We wrote this and it belongs to us. We do not mind
if you pass it along to others, as long as we get full credit and
attribution. But, please, ask our permission first, and do not steal or
mangle our words or ideas. ©GRVR Attorneys
(2006). Disclaimer You will not find any legal advice anywhere
in this newsletter, on our website, or in any course or public lesson we
offer. You should not rely on this newsletter to decide on a legal course
of action. If you would like legal advice, you need to ask your attorney.
GRVR Attorneys provide legal advice only to existing clients in a
confidential and private setting, not in public (i.e., not in a
newsletter). Subscribing to our newsletter does not make you into one of
our clients. If you are looking to hire an international trade attorney,
we would love to hear from you. The GRVR Attorney responsible for the
contents of this newsletter is Oscar Gonzalez. He can be reached at
214.720.7720 or info@exportimportlaw.com.
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