Now, More than Ever, Be Wary of and Responsive to a CBP Form 28!

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), having previously identified AD/CVD evasion as priority trade issue, is ramping up its efforts to further combat AD/CVD evasion. Effective August 22, 2016, interested parties can, in addition to pursuing either a civil False Claims Act/Qui Tam Action or a criminal trade violation, now report Enforce and Protect Act (“EAPA”) violations using CBP’s e-Allegation mechanism. 

Who is an Interested Party?

Interested parties qualified to use this violation reporting mechanism include:

• Foreign manufacturers, producers, exporters, or importers of covered merchandise or a trade or business association a majority of the members of which are producers, exporters, or importers of such merchandise
• Manufacturers, producers, exporters, or importers in the U.S. of a domestic like product 
• A certified union or recognized union group of workers that is representative of an industry engaged in the manufacture, production or wholesale of a domestic like product in the U.S. 
• A trade or business association a majority of the members of which manufacture, produce, or wholesale a domestic like product in the U.S. 
• If covered merchandise is a processed agricultural product, a coalition or trade union that is representative of processors, processors and producers, or processors and growers

CBP Launches New E-Commerce and Small Business Branch … Just in Time for the Holiday Shopping Season

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror and the Christmas holiday season kicking into high gear, now is the time to think of Pre-Compliance especially with the grave risks associated with shopping online and not knowing your supplier. As Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday commercial activity spikes, CBP is, in specific connection with online sales, warns consumers and merchants alike to be on the lookout for holiday shopping scams and/or criminal trade practices. Red flags to watch for in this regard include offers designed to induce the purchase of counterfeit and/or unsafe goods, prices that are too good to be true, e-commerce sites that lack legitimate phone numbers and/or addresses, and sellers who lack good customer feedback.