Administrative Law

Literature=Moral Turpitude

Posted on March 20, 2008
Customs and Border Protection in Newark detained British author Sebastian Horsley for eight hours before telling him that he was not welcome in the U.S. under the visa waiver program. The reason for this determination is that Horsely purports to be a drug user who has employed the services of prostitutes and also has worked as an "escort...

Notes from the Road

Posted on March 18, 2008
Not a good day for United Airlines. We are experiencing the dreaded mechanical delay here in San Diego. This, of course, leaves me with time to do a quick blog update.In the category of not-terribly-relevant is the fact that Arthur C. Clarke has passed away...

On Voice Mail, Massagers, and Mootness

Posted on March 13, 2008
One thing I'll say for Customs & Border Protection is that the people making up the agency tend to be pretty responsive to voice mail. That makes me wonder why they need a $20 million overhaul of their voice mail system.Of course, voice mail is important and should be kept up to modern standards...

In Deep Yogurt

Posted on March 08, 2008
I?m traveling and too much time spent in airports makes the odd profound. With that in mind, I want to know whether anyone but me has noticed that America is being invaded by granola-topped yogurt parfaits. I shudder at the larger implications of this for national security, let alone the health of the average American...

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TheStar.com | USElection | Clinton campaign denies NAFTA report

Posted on March 08, 2008
Here are a couple substantive items.First, what is rapidly becoming known as NAFTA-gate is spreading. Now there are questions about whether Hillary Clinton's people had contact with Canada to reassure that Country about her commitment to NAFTA. At the same time, it appears that Canada does not think that renegotiating is completely out of the question...

Canada Fights Back, Costa Rica Gets Extension

Posted on February 29, 2008
Here's a page slap of a few articles on the current controversy over Barack Obama's possible, but not proven (or even likely), contacts with Canada over NAFTA. The story, which the campaign denies, is that the Senator contacted the Canadian Ambassador to assure Canada that all this negative NAFTA talk is just for purposes of the campaign...

No Trademark Jurisdiction without Embargo

Posted on February 20, 2008
The Federal Circuit has issued a decision in Sakar International v. United States, a case I posted about here. Sakar, you may recall, involved the seizure of and a civil penalty relating to the importation of PDA accessories bearing of allegedly counterfeit Microsoft Windows logos on keyboards and UL labels on chargers...

Help My Zune

Posted on February 20, 2008
This is an off topic technology post. I'm looking for technical help and, frankly, just letting you know I am here. I have been busy with work and have a lot of travel coming up. I'll post as I can. Also, I haven't seem too much that really struck me as interesting...

Why Valuation Matters to Art Smugglers

Posted on February 18, 2008
Customs and Border Protection checks the reported value of imports against its database of reported values on similar goods. When the current import has a value that is out of line with the statistics, CBP can issue a rejection notice or a CF28 request for information...

Ron Paul and the North American Union

Posted on February 14, 2008
This is not a forum for debating presidential politics. So the context of this article is unfortunate. It is from FactCheck.org and it analyzes several Ron Paul statements. Of particular interest here is his notion that a secret cabal is planning to merge the U...

Real Counterfeits of Virtual Swords

Posted on February 13, 2008
Square Enix, the company behind the Final Fantasy computer games, movies and other media has a novel intellectual property issue. Someone is importing copies of its swords. Keep in mind that prior to being knocked off, these swords existed only as virtual swords to be wielded in video games...

News on Border Searches of Computers

Posted on February 12, 2008
Questions surrounding Customs and Border Protection searches of computers at the border continue to generate news and lawsuits.Here are two recent articles on the topic:Washington PostCNNIf a CBP inspector could, in a Matrix-like way, jack right into a passenger's brain, he or she might find all sorts of possibly messy private details...

The Other First Sale

Posted on February 06, 2008
I have been catching up on cases and, frankly, have not seen too much that is particularly interesting. Here is one to watch for: Gross Kobrick Corp. v. United States, CIT court number 08-0042. The issue is whether Customs and Border Protection properly excluded merchandise and properly refused to permit the importer to segregate admissible from non-admissible merchandise...

Page Slap

Posted on February 01, 2008
A page slap is when you reply to an e-mail message with nothing but a link to a web site. In essence, you are saying "Look at this and figure it out yourself." I am in DC at the Georgetown International Trade and Customs Law Update. The program is going well...

First Sale, Settled Law and CBP

Posted on January 24, 2008
In today's Federal Register, Customs and Border Protection is proposing to modify the interpretation of the phrase "sold for exportation to the United States" to effectively eliminate the use of so-called first sale valuation by U.S. importers.Some history is in order here...

10 + 2 Open Thread Experiment

Posted on January 21, 2008
This is an experiment in Wiki blogging.Customs and Border Protection's Notice of Proposed Rule Making on the Importer Security Filing (so-called 10+2) is creating a big splash as people try and sort out exactly what will be required and what will happen in the case of non-compliance...

In Contact

Posted on January 21, 2008
I have mentioned in the past that I provide content to the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America via their National Educational Institute magazine, CCSContact. In this post, I am providing links to some of that content, which you may find of interest...

Delevopments on the IPR Front

Posted on January 16, 2008
Customs and Border Protection, as you likely know, plays an important role in enforcing U.S. intellectual property rights at the border. CBP can seize merchandise that infringes a U.S. copyright or trademark and can enforce a U.S. International Trade Commission exclusion order for patents or other rights...

Product safety at the Ports

Posted on January 16, 2008
The Consumer Products Safety Commission is going to be assigning its own personnel to major ports, starting on the west coast. CSPC will be working with Customs and Border Protection to target suspect shipments for CPSC inspection. According to news reports, it remains unclear how many CPSC officials will be posted to the ports...

All Politics is Local

Posted on January 16, 2008
In Illinois, we elect our state court judges. That puts a tremendous amount of responsibility in the hands of voters. I am not implying that judges are somehow beyond the capability of voter evaluation. The problem is more one of volume. Most voters cannot make a meaningful choice between the hundreds of candidates running for judge...

Did You Miss Me?

Posted on January 07, 2008
I am back from the tour of Orlando theme parks.I'll assume you are all up-to-date on the fact that Customs and Border Protection finally published some details on the 10+2 data requirements. If not, read this.A couple other things of interest:The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had to deal with a problem relating to the Court of International Trade's electronic filing system...

I'm Off

Posted on December 29, 2007
I'll be offline for the next week or so. If anything major happens, feel free to post it in the comments. Otherwise, I'll try and catch up when I get back.Happy new year.

Happy Holidays and Sorry About the Opium

Posted on December 24, 2007
I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But, if you are expecting a picture frame, Aqua Dots, or Louis Vuitton handbag for the holidays, your gift might not arrive.According to this news item, Customs and Border Protection seized a shipment of picture frames with opium concealed inside the frames...

Spicy Seizure

Posted on December 20, 2007
I like hot peppers as much as the next guy. Maybe more so. I am particularly fond of hot Italian-style giardiniera. Scala's Packing (click on Italian Style Peppers) in Chicago makes the best. But, I am also fond of the humble jalapeno, which may be why this story caught my eye...

Gearing Up for a Trade War?

Posted on December 19, 2007
Since 2001, Mexico has been entitled under the NAFTA to send trucks into the U.S. Since 2001, the U.S. has refused to allow that in any meaningful way. First, before I get any e-mail or comments about the danger NAFTA represents to our sovereignty, keep in mind that the U...

Ford News Flash

Posted on December 17, 2007
If you have an interest in NAFTA, this is big news.As you know, Customs & Border Protection has been pursuing a $42 million recordkeeping penalty against Ford for failing to produce backup documents supporting certificates of origin from a Mexican supplier...

Check Your Journal of Commerce

Posted on December 14, 2007
For those of you who get the paper copy of the Journal of Commerce, the most recent issue includes an interview with me. Once I get permission, I'll put up a link to the article. For now, I'll leave it to you old-school readers to enjoy the article...

One Last Thing

Posted on December 13, 2007
I was going to steal this from Wayla-guy. I am too tired for that. Instead, go here and read his take on the Republican debate. And, in particular, watch the linked You Tube video in which the candidates discuss how to "fix" NAFTA.

Decisions, Decisions

Posted on December 13, 2007
I haven't commented on a court decision in a while, so now I will comment on three.In U.S. v. National Semiconductor, the CIT (via Judge Musgrave) went back to the question of what interest might be due on unpaid duties where the violations were the subject of a prior disclosure...

False Copyright Claims

Posted on December 13, 2007
Interesting piece from Boing Boing. False copyright claims are a lucrative business for sleazoids - Boing BoingThink about this the next time you buy a print or a coffee mug at a museum gift shop. No one, anywhere owns the copyright to a Da Vinci or Rembrandt...

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