Come join me tonight for an enjoyable summer evening with the New York Chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade as we mark the end of our 2010 - 2011 year with drinks, dinner, and dessert at the popular Terrace Club conveniently located in mid-town Manhattan across from Rockefeller Center.
Date: June 22, 2011
Time: Registration: 6-6:30 pm. Dinner: 6:30-7:30. Program: 7:30 – 8:30 pm, followed by networking reception
Location: The Terrace Club 25 West 51st Street (off Fifth Avenue) New York, NY 10019
Cost: $50 for members* and $75 for non-members. Price includes one hour open wine and beer bar, a light dinner and dessert.
We are honored to announce that the evening's program will
include remarks from our very special guest, Ms. Elizabeth Daly, who holds the prestigious position of Director, International Business in Mayor Bloomberg’s administration.
Ms. Daly will discuss New York City’s efforts to attract and
retain international businesses. She will also provide commentary and insights on future prospects for foreign direct investment in New York City. A networking reception will immediately follow the program and Q&A.
Learn more about New York City's efforts to remain a global trading center in a collegiate environment, and connect with other international trade professionals from the Tri-state area.
For more information and to register, go to www.owitny.org or click here.
Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
U.S. Customs Brokers Beware – Nike May be Coming After You Next
For over a year now, Nike has been approaching licensed U.S. Customshouse brokers and requesting the broker’s assistance to provide it with information regarding a specific (or multiple shipments). In an effort to assist Nike, brokers (naively) have been handing over information, only to be later “thanked” by Nike in the form of a lawsuit whose allegations are “supported” by the very papers the broker provided it with. These lawsuits seek millions of dollars as provided for by U.S. intellectual property law, which are some (of the many) statutes under which these cases are being brought.
In an effort to crack down on imports of counterfeit merchandise, Nike has been commencing lawsuits against licensed U.S. Customs brokers across the country.
You may be asking yourself, “Why the broker and not the importer of record?” After all, not only does it not make much sense to sue an agent rather than a principal, but brokers never see or touch the cargo. I know. I get that.
Due to the increase in identity theft however, Nike claims to be without knowledge of who the actual importer of record/consignee is. It is therefore creating an allegation that the broker is in cahoots with the importer of the counterfeit merchandise, thereby creating a conspiracy if you will.
Based on this theory, it is going after the smallest and most defenseless target out there – the customs broker – in an effort to get brokers to agree to specific terms and to perform certain so- called "safe guarding" activities, which Nike believes will cut back on incidents of attempted importations of counterfeits.
Naturally, where a broker has been engaged in no (as in Z-E-R-O) wrongdoing, it will attempt to assist with any investigation as it is able to. The problem is, doing so without the advice of counsel and, certainly moving forward in a lawsuit without counsel, might only end up hurting the broker's position as inadvertent admissions will have been made on the broker’s part in an attempt to "do the right thing" and clear its reputation.
Unfortunately, due to the Court’s preference of attorneys representing litigants, representation ultimately winds up being retained and the attorney is left to deal with untimely, or unnecessary, exposure initially caused by the unrepresented litigant (i.e., the customs broker).
To find out where and against whom Nike has brought cases against, you can search publicly on the Justia Dockets & Filings website [http://dockets.justia.com] and type in Nike, Inc. in the “Party Name” box, and click “Intellectual Property” in the drop down menu called “Type.”
Given the nature of Nike’s “bait and switch” tactic, should a customs broker be contacted by Nike wherein it requests that records be provided to it, trade counsel should immediately be contacted and any response to Nike would be to "contact your attorney."
Questions/comments? Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Navigating the Importation Process - Tips for the New Importer
I remember one of my best friends telling me in college that she thought it would be fun to have an import business where of course, she got to do the traveling to find all of the wonderful treasures that she would sell in her shop.
I know that back then, we never could have imagined that there would be so many obscure rules, such as that articles made of wood might require a declaration from the USDA, or that beaded jewelry made of seeds from exotic forests might be subject to FDA regulations.
After all, how does an importing entrepreneur even know where to begin in terms of compliance with the law when most have little idea about the complexities of importing?
Nowadays, thanks to search engines like Google – which did not exist when we were in college (zoiks!) – getting information about importing is a much simpler endeavor. This of course, is both good and bad.
It is good in that basic importing information may be found online, but of course, not all information out there is equally correct.
The down side however, is that there is a presumption that a responsible importer would have been able to seek out information that pertained to their type of import and therefore ought to have dotted all of their proverbial “I’s” and crossed their “T’s.”
A failure to do so can lead to an accusation of negligence in the event of an importing “hiccup” or even worse, an allegation of fraudulent activity.
Like people entering the country, the border is the front line of imported merchandise, and US Customs and Border Protection has jurisdiction over what is permitted to enter – and remain – in the country.
A few helpful links include the web pages on US Customs’ website (www.cbp.gov) under the “Trade” tab. Within this section is a link called "Basic Importing and Exporting" which further leads to information on US Customs import requirements as well as other federal agency requirements.
There is also a rather lengthy US Customs guide entitled “Importing into the United States – A Guide for Commercial Importers” as well as numerous “Informed Compliance” publications which offer both general importing information such as on the “Entry” of merchandise, and Tariff Classification, as well as more import specific information, such as on Eyewear, Textile and Apparel Rules of Origin, and Footwear.
More tips for new importers and exporters can be found here.
Questions/comments? Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com
I know that back then, we never could have imagined that there would be so many obscure rules, such as that articles made of wood might require a declaration from the USDA, or that beaded jewelry made of seeds from exotic forests might be subject to FDA regulations.
After all, how does an importing entrepreneur even know where to begin in terms of compliance with the law when most have little idea about the complexities of importing?
Nowadays, thanks to search engines like Google – which did not exist when we were in college (zoiks!) – getting information about importing is a much simpler endeavor. This of course, is both good and bad.
It is good in that basic importing information may be found online, but of course, not all information out there is equally correct.
The down side however, is that there is a presumption that a responsible importer would have been able to seek out information that pertained to their type of import and therefore ought to have dotted all of their proverbial “I’s” and crossed their “T’s.”
A failure to do so can lead to an accusation of negligence in the event of an importing “hiccup” or even worse, an allegation of fraudulent activity.
So where does a new importer begin?
Like people entering the country, the border is the front line of imported merchandise, and US Customs and Border Protection has jurisdiction over what is permitted to enter – and remain – in the country.
A few helpful links include the web pages on US Customs’ website (www.cbp.gov) under the “Trade” tab. Within this section is a link called "Basic Importing and Exporting" which further leads to information on US Customs import requirements as well as other federal agency requirements.
There is also a rather lengthy US Customs guide entitled “Importing into the United States – A Guide for Commercial Importers” as well as numerous “Informed Compliance” publications which offer both general importing information such as on the “Entry” of merchandise, and Tariff Classification, as well as more import specific information, such as on Eyewear, Textile and Apparel Rules of Origin, and Footwear.
More tips for new importers and exporters can be found here.
Questions/comments? Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com
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