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Back from Judicial Conference/ABA Survey

I'm back from the Court of International Trade Judicial Conference. We had a good time, as always. It was down at the South Street Seaport, which has its touristy aspects but still reflects old maritime NY.

I moderated a panel on New Developments in Customs Law. Basically, we talked a lot about rule making and modifying policy. The point of most debate was the extent to which Customs and Border Protection can find ambiguity in a statute that the Court has found to be clear on its face. I say they can't but opinions differed. The speaker on this point will say that is an unfair characterization and I am willing to be corrected, but that is what I took from it. Another point of debate is what counts are an interpretive ruling and decision for purposes of triggering the notice and comment requirements for revoking or modifying a ruling under 19 U.S.C. 1625. I think it was an interesting panel.

I would be more than thrilled if folks who were there would consider this a space to continue that discussion. If you were there and have a thought, please drop a comment.

Papers from the panels have been posted here. My paper is here. My topic, which did not get discussed, is whether it makes sense to apply the test for persuasiveness from Skidmore to non-binding WCO materials. It makes a certain sense to me. Thanks to Christine Martinez who took a bunch of scraps of text and random thoughts and turned it into the article.

Also, the American Bar Association has asked me to post this link to a survey on law firm business in the current economic environment.

Full post as published by Customs Law on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).