The National Marine Fisheries Service made a new comparability finding that two New Zealand fisheries have comparable marine mammal bycatch protections to U.S. fisheries, and may be listed on the agency’s List of Foreign Fisheries eligible for import into the U.S., NMFS said in a notice released Jan. 22.
Businesses and industry lawyers should expect to see an increase in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement this year, especially as DOJ more frequently uses data analytics to find possible violations, said Dan Kahn, the former chief of DOJ’s FCPA unit.
Cannabis industry companies should take stock of their import supply chains and CBP clearance procedures in the wake of actions against shippers for undervaluing merchandise, law firm Neville Peterson said in a Jan. 2 blog post. While undervaluation for cannabis-related goods "may have gone undetected due to CBP's unfamiliarity with" the products, CBP is "moving up a learning curve," allowing for easier detection and greater due diligence for importers, the post said.
Importers of cannabis-related goods should seek customs rulings to "interpret the laws of every State that has repealed prior prohibitions" pertaining to cannabis paraphernalia to better facilitate the importation of these goods, law firm Neville Peterson said in a blog post.
DOJ is increasingly prioritizing corporate enforcement against executives -- regardless of how high they rank -- and is more frequently looking to take those cases to trial, said Marshall Miller, principal associate deputy attorney general.
Six U.S. oil country tubular goods manufacturers -- Tenaris U.S., Vallourec Star, Borusan Pipe US, PTC Liberty Tubulars, Welded Tube US, and Axis Pipe and Tube -- have formed a new trade association. The U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association elected Tenaris U.S. President Luca Zanotti chairman, and appointed Roger Schagrin, partner at Schagrin Associates, its general counsel, a Nov. 28 news release said.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission suggested that Congress should pass legislation requiring the U.S. Judicial Conference to "prepare an evaluation and guidance for U.S. courts" on the Chinese legal system to aid courts in "assessing recognition of Chinese judgments." In its 2023 Report to Congress, the commission said that the Judicial Conference's guidance also would cover "change of venue, choice of law, and forum non conveniens inquiries."
DOJ is looking to apply its recently revamped corporate enforcement principles “across the entire Department,” including in cases involving the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said during an event last week held by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics. Monaco said companies “should expect more to come on this topic” as DOJ extends its policies “beyond the criminal context to other enforcement resolutions -- from breaches of affirmative civil case settlements to violations of CFIUS mitigation agreements or orders.”
A series of opinions from the Court of International Trade concerning whether the U.S. can file a counterclaim in classification cases do "not seem to change the fundamentals of classification litigation," customs lawyer Lawrence Friedman of Barnes Richardson said in a blog post. If the opinions are sustained on appeal, potential government claims seeking a different classification than the one initially used at liquidation by CBP may just be moved "from the counterclaim bucket to the defense bucket," the post said.