Beginning November 12, 2008 - all imported products subject to any consumer product safety rule must file a Certificate of Conformity. This new certificate requires the date and place of manufacture and the name, telephone and address of the manufacturer.

Items that are not affected are parts or incomplete items for products that will be manufactured and produced in the U.S. into the final product.

If your products are not regulated by the U.S. C.P.S.C. - please indicate on your import documents that "THIS MERCHANDISE IS NOT REGULATED BY THE CPSC"

Items that are affected are any merchandise to be used by consumers or consumer goods in the U.S. This includes, but is not limited to - fabrics, wearing apparel, toys, jewelry, sporting goods, furniture, appliances, and hazardous products.

Link to information for products that DO NOT apply

Link to information for products that DO APPLY

Link to website with more Questions & Answers

Congress passed the Lacey Act, which goes into effect on December 15, 2008, in attempt to combat the growing illegal practice of the logging of protected trees and to safeguard U.S. wood producers from overseas competition.

With this new law - all importers will be required by US Customs & Border Protection to make an import declaration at the time of Customs entry. The scientific name, species, the quantity and value of the goods, and the country of origin of where the wood was harvested is required to be listed on this new import declaration. Examples include everything from wood, printed material, pulp, paper products, glues, toys, sports equipment, tools, furniture, etc.

Congress was not aware of the potential pitfalls of this law on the international business and trade industry. Customs & Border Protection is working closely with the departments of Agriculture and Interior to try to phase-in these new requirements; however, it will be the technical duty of the USDA to execute collecting this data from importers.

Until government agencies can determine an implementation solution for this new law, importers will be required to provide the new declaration information upon entry.

IFF will continue to do everything we can to assist our customers throughout this new procedure. Please contact us if you have any questions.

In January of 2008 - U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) requiring importers and carriers to electronically submit additional information on cargo before it departs the foreign port and is brought into the United States by vessel.

The Security Filing, also known as "10 + 2", is another step in the Department of Homeland Security's strategy to better assess and identify high-risk shipments to prevent terrorist weapons and materials from entering the United States.

Importers will be required to submit an "Importer Security Filing" containing the following 10 data elements:

• Manufacturer (or supplier) name and address
• Seller (or owner) name and address
• Buyer (or owner) name and address
• Ship-to name and address
• Container stuffing location
• Consolidator (stuffer) name and address
• Importer of record number/foreign trade zone applicant identification number
• Consignee number(s)
• Country of origin
• Commodity Harmonized Tariff Schedule number

The ISF program will then undergo a one year informed compliance period. The one year program trial will allow the trade community to assess what works and what does not. Congress & the Obama Administration will then decide to move forward or change ISF accordingly.

IFF is developing our procedures and will be ready to handle the new ISF filing on the behalf of our clients & provide further information on this new procedure as it continues to be put into place.

All loaded containers, including foreign cargo remaining on board, arriving by ocean vessel at a U.S. port of entry, effective October 15, 2008 - are required to be sealed with a seal meeting the ISO/PAS 17712 standard.

The International Organization for Standardization Publicly Available Specification (ISO/PAS) has always regulated and monitored container freight seals to prevent breakage, early deterioration or any tampering with the seal once it is closed.

This new requirement for ISO container seals is that they now also mandate each seal be clearly & legibly marked with a unique identification number.

The Port of Long Beach is launching a major phase in its Clean Trucks Program, beginning on November 10th when their electronic gate reader systems goes live. Only trucks that have paid their registration fee and those with the preapproved Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will be permitted to access the Port.

On November 13th the Clean Trucks Fee also goes into effect, which will subsequently pass down to cargo owners. For trucks passing through the Port of Long Beach - cargo owners may be subect to $35 per 20' container and $70 per 40' or larger containers.