FDA Announces Enforcement Discretion Under FSMA

On January 4, 2011, Congress enacted the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), aiming to protect the public by ensuring the U.S. food supply is safe through prevention and enforcement. The FSMA included seven foundational rules, which we summarized in our FSMA: Stay Compliant with DTL’s ‘PICTURE’! blog.

Food Importers – Want to Expedite Your Importations with FDA?

 On January 2, 2018, FDA announced that it expects to begin accepting applications in early 2018 for its Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP), which we first advised you of back in 2015. VQIP is a voluntary, fee-based program for importers that will allow expedited review and importation of human and animal foods into the United States for approved applicants who achieve and maintain a high level of control over the safety and security of their supply chains. Below are the most important VQIP questions and answers from the FDA.

2018 Seminars - We Want to Hear from YOU!

DTL is Planning Our 2018 Seminars AND WANTS YOUR Input!!

We want our 2018 Seminars to answer the import/export questions you have! Please provide your

comments by voting below!

Please VOTE here! 

If you have any specific comments you want to share with us, please email us at info@diaztradelaw.com.

Help Us Celebrate 2017 Successes!

DTL saved clients MILLIONS of dollars in 2017, below we list a summary of some of our compliance successes! Let us assist you in 2018!

U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP)

• Assisted importers in filing prior disclosures that were accepted by CBP and/or DOC and avoiding substantial penalties.
• Assisted importers in successfully responding to CBP 28’s and 29’s resulting in close outs, and no further enforcement action by CBP!
• Assisted importers in creating and maintaining pre-compliance programs to evaluate intellectual property rights and pre-report merchandise to CBP resulting in expedited entry into the U.S. with no delays or examinations by CBP.

Your Cheat Sheet to Comply With CBP’s Forced Labor Requirements

 We recently advised our readers of the 12 Questions on Forced Labor the import community must answer in order to comply with U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) amended Reasonable Care Checklist. This checklist was released September 2017 to:

1. Comply with the informed compliance requirement of Title VI of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 103-182, 107 Stat. 2057) (Mod Act) and,

OWIT International President to Host OWIT South Florida Breakfast

Our very own Diaz Trade Law President, Jennifer Diaz, is also the newly elected President of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT). OWIT International was established in 1989 and is a global association for women in international trade and business. Our 2,000-plus members impact hundreds of millions of dollars in trade and business transactions annually. OWIT’s focus is on adding value to our corporate, mid-sized, small business and individual members around the world. OWIT serves as the unifying body of a network of chapters spanning the globe in the Americas, Western Europe, and Africa.

OWIT South Florida (the premier networking organization in South Florida for women and men involved in international trade and business) is one of 22 chapters of OWIT around the globe. OWIT South Florida has numerous events throughout the year. Diaz Trade Law is proud to host the next breakfast event at our office. Don't miss it!

Recap of the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium (& UPDATED Dates for 2018!)

As you know (for those of you who have been following our blog), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held its annual East Coast Trade Symposium on December 5-6, 2017, in Atlanta, GA. Below summarizes the panels I attended, would love your thoughts if you were there. For those that couldn’t make it – hope below proves useful as a summary for you!

The event kicked off with Brenda B. Smith, CBP’s Office of Trade Executive Assistant Commissioner, introducing CBP’s trade strategy and the four important lanes CBP is focusing on:  

Your Data is NOT Your Own at the Border

On November 15, 2017, DTL’s very own Jennifer Diaz, along with other experts, spoke at the AILA CLE Luncheon on travelers’ rights when encountering U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at airports and other ports of entry. As international travel continues to grow, coupled with increase national security efforts, it is imperative travelers know their rights when entering or exiting the U.S. Travelers enjoy taking their electronic devices with them for pleasure and/or work. Electronic devices hold considerable amounts of our personal or privileged information. 

What is CBP’s Policy?

Importers: If you Can’t Answer These 12 Questions on Forced Labor You’re In Trouble!

An estimated 40.3 million people were living in modern slavery at any moment in time in 2016. This amounts to 5.4 victims of modern slavery for every thousand people in the world. Seventy three per cent of the victims of forced labor were female, and one in four victims were children. Forced labor accounted for 24.9 million people, while 15.4 million were in forced marriage.

What is the U.S. Doing About It?

Trump Administration Tightens Cuba’s Sanctions Program

Since June 2017, we have been anxiously awaiting changes to the Cuba sanctions program since President Trump signed an executive order and emphatically stated that his administration would tighten loose regulations established under the Obama Administration.

On November 8, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury stated,

• “We have strengthened our Cuba policies to channel economic activity away from the Cuban military and to encourage the government to move toward greater political and economic freedom for the Cuban people”