Logistically Speaking

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has agreed to accept protests as a mechanism to secure refunds associated with the renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences. In order to obtain a refund via protest, entries must meet the following criteria:

On May 4th, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the European Union (EU) reached a Mutual Recognition (MR) Decision between CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the EU’s Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program. Mutual Recognition occurs by a document being signed by both CBP and a foreign Customs Administration that provides for the exchange of information.

On April 24th, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register an Intellectual Property Rights Interim Final Rule (IFR), which takes effect immediately upon publication. This IFR amends, on an interim basis, CBP regulations pertaining to importations of merchandise bearing recorded trademarks or recorded trade names.

In an effort to offset revenue lost by renewing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) was increased by more than 60%, retro