On March 7th, 2024, The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice in the Federal Register seeking input for the development of trade and investment policy on…
Trade Alerts
AMS – Strengthening Organics Enforcement Program Goes Into Effect March 19th
New mandatory data reporting requirements for imports of organic products into the United States go into effect on March 19, 2024. Under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Strengthening Organics…
Agricultural Marketing Services National Organic Program
Organic supply chains are increasingly complex, leading to documented cases of fraud and oversight gaps. To address these issues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) has…
Upgrades to ACE Reports
The ACE Reports application, currently operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is scheduled for an upgrade to SAP Business Objects (BO) 4.3 on January 27, 2024. This upgrade…
Seafood Import Restrictions
Announced on December 22nd, with immediate effect, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) mandates that importers self-certify seafood imports. This directive, as outlined in the Executive Order, prohibits the…
Panama and Suez Canals Update
We have received more updates regarding the conditions in the Panama and Suez Canals. Additional carriers have announced a temporary halt of services in the Red Sea and Suez Canal.…
Conditions in the Panama and Suez Canals: May drive more US-bound cargo ships from Asia to West Coast ports
The Panama Canal is currently under drought restriction, which has caused an implementation of surcharges which has increased pricing on Asia–US East Coast routings by several hundred dollars per FEU.…
Explosion at Rainbow Bridge Border Crossing
In Niagara Falls, New York, a border crossing between the U.S. and Canada has been shut down following an explosion of a vehicle at a checkpoint on the Rainbow Bridge,…
FDA Issues Compliance Policy for Cosmetic Industry
On November 8th, 2023, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will delay the enforcement of the requirements for cosmetic product facility registration and cosmetic product listing…
TMF at Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Increase 4.0% on Nov 1, 2023
The West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) today announced that on November 1, 2023, the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will increase by…