Broker Power has listed the 2004 general (column 1) duty rates for certain knit and crocheted apparel that is 70% or more by weight silk or silk waste and is subject to a silk category number (7XX).

The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its preliminary results of the following antidumping (AD) duty administrative and new shipper reviews:

The State Department has issued a final rule, effective January 7, 2004, which amends the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) to allow a change in jurisdiction for certain quartz rate sensors (QRS) from the State Department's U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the Commerce Department's Commerce Control List (CCL) in certain circumstances only.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule to amend its regulations at 7 CFR 319.56 on the importation of fruits and vegetables.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice regarding the appeals period for questions on the October 2003 Customs broker exam.

The Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) has issued a notice that will be published in the January 23, 2004 Federal Register announcing the cancellation of the export visa and ELVIS (Electronic Visa Information System) requirements for imports of Chinese origin cotton/man-made fiber (MMF) knit fabric (category 222), cotton/MMF brassieres and other body supporting garments (category 349/649), and cotton/MMF dressing gowns and robes (category 350/650) that were to have taken effect for exports on or after January 23, 2004.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued a circular urging SOLAS Contracting Governments, port authorities, classification societies, recognized security organizations, training institutions and all other parties concerned to redouble their efforts to protect shipping against terrorism by taking action as soon as possible to ensure compliance with the requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) and SOLAS Chapter XI-2 before these new maritime security measures enter into force on July 1, 2004.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the following non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs) have become Sea Automated Manifest System (AMS) operational. According to CBP, the SCAC must be used in the entry/entry summary input to obtain cargo release via AMS. CBP notes that NVOCCs that are operational in Sea AMS are required to transmit electronic bill of lading data for all of their ports of call nationwide.

CBP has issued messages on a number of antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty actions, many of which (marked by an * in the action column) were previously published in the Federal Register by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and summarized in International Trade Today.

The Winter 2003 issue of the NCBFAA Quarterly Bulletin contains an article that states that miscellaneous tariff and trade bills are no longer routine, are not predictable, and may not even be possible. The article notes that such bills have increasingly become the vehicle for solving larger, tougher trade and economic issues that have nothing to do with the tedious technical language of miscellaneous tariff and trade bills. (NBFAA Quarterly Bulletin, No. 103-4, Winter 2003, www.ncbfaa.org.)