§4313 Educational Seminars to Improve Efforts to Classify and Appraise Imported Articles, to Improve Trade Enforcement Efforts, and to Otherwise Facilitate Legitimate International Trade

Summary

The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must run yearly training seminars. The classes must help CBP and, when appropriate, ICE staff do three things: correctly classify and value imported goods, better carry out trade enforcement, and generally make it easier to allow lawful international trade. The training must teach things like how to inspect and test goods, check shipping papers and country of origin, understand customs valuation and supply chains, and spot issues like antidumping and countervailing duties, textile duty evasion, intellectual property theft, and child-labor violations. Teaching materials need the Commissioner’s and Director’s approval. The Commissioner will pick private-sector experts to help teach. The picking process must be public in the Federal Register and use criteria such as usefulness and the size or frequency of mislabeling problems. The agencies must set performance measures for the seminars. If a petitioner asks for training to help enforce an antidumping or countervailing duty order, the Commissioner should consider holding one and will treat that petitioner as an interested private party. A report on seminar effectiveness is due by September 30, 2016, and every year after. Definitions: Director = ICE Director; United States = customs territory per the Harmonized Tariff Schedule; CBP and ICE personnel = import specialists, auditors, HSI staff, and other relevant employees.