by Peter Quinter, guest columnist It has been a year since President Obama issued Executive Order 13660, entitled “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine,” and opened an economic front in the international dispute with Russia...
Is There ROI in C-TPAT for Members? Should There Be?
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is holding its annual conference of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) this week at the beautiful JW Marriott in San Antonio, Texas. You can click here for more information....
Intellectual Property Rights & Wrongs: CBP Counterfeit Seizures
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just issued its 2013 annual report on seizures of counterfeit merchandise that attempted to enter the US illegally. The statistics on CBP counterfeit seizures continue to climb year after year in...
Care to Share Your Laptop’s Contents with Customs? You May Have to
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist I have been writing for years about US court decisions regarding the inspection of the contents of laptops, mobile phones, and other digital devices by officers of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), US Department of Homeland...
What to Expect from CBP in 2014: 10 Predictions
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Here is my annual list of predictions for US Customs and Border Protection in the year ahead: 1. President Obama will nominate and the Senate will confirm a new, permanent CBP Commissioner. 2. CBP’s...
Getting off an A-List No One Wants to Be on: FDA Import Alerts
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the responsibility under the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics (FD&C) Act to stop any adulterated or mislabeled food products from entering the United States. Foreign companies that...
The Shutdown’s Collateral Damage to Trade
by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Even as agreement was being reached to re-open the federal government, the shutdown scored another hit on trade: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on its website and to all registered attendees that it has postponed the...
Sizing up the Senate DHS Budget Bill
Border security trumps trade facilitation in proposed homeland security budget appropriations | by Peter Quinter, guest columnist. In the proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget approved by the US Senate Appropriations Committee on July 18, 2013, “Big Government” is going to...
CBP on the Prowl for Copycats
Are Those Red Bottoms Really Christian Louboutins? | by Peter Quinter, guest columnist. Haven't you ever thought – Are those Tory Burch flats real? Is that Coach tag attached to an authentic Coach purse? Are those boots really UGGs? Is that Michael Kors wallet a...
Prophylactic Compliance
What you need to do before importing condoms – or any other Class II medical device – to the US | by Peter Quinter, guest columnist Many of you may think of a condom as a way to avoid pregnancy and protect against sexually transmitted diseases. But to a customs and...