Even though U.S. Customs recently reported that they have seized more than $300 million in product from 18,000 trade enforcement actions, Customs cannot be everywhere and surely does not catch every instance of intellectual property rights infringement, tariff avoidance, or quota violations. Responsible members of the trade community must proactively monitor their industries and products with care and accuracy.

U.S. Customs has created a website that makes it possible to anonymously report potential trade violations online or through a toll free number. Visit https://apps.cbp.gov/eallegations to read more about how Customs processes these requests or call 1-800-BE-ALERT (800-232-5378).

To report violations, it is important to have evidence showing quantitative analysis of the trade realities on the ground. Trade data, both U.S. Customs and U.S. Census information, is the essential source for doing IPR investigations, giving insights into how competitors are declaring their goods, and understanding current quota fulfillment within days of products entering the country. These are proactive activities that can have an impact on your company’s bottom line in a number of ways:

1. Reporting counterfeiters could mean delivering thousands or potentially millions to the reporter of the violations. The Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act of 2006 allows for companies that are affected by counterfeiters to receive compensation from the value of the goods seized for the violations reported to law enforcement.



2. Notifying officials of possible cases of tariff avoidance could not only receive revenue in form of a reward, but also enhance current revenue streams by ensuring that companies have the same cost structures. Tariff avoidance allows the violating companies to import at a lower price and in turn undercut the true market price, giving an unfair advantage.



3. Keeping track of quota fulfillment ensures that importers do not miss opportunities to import goods, but also protects the risk of paying penalties for bringing goods in over the quota. Knowing a company's place in the market makes everything from supplier contract negotiations to sales forecasting more effective and adds greatly to the value of a trade analyst.
   
   Quotas ensure that only a specified amount of a certain type of product can enter the United States for a year or other time frame. A quota may be specific to one country or may not, but still require importers and manufacturers of the goods to have an accurate understanding of where the quota stands.
   
   Trade data makes monitoring quotas easy. U.S. Census data provides a highly accurate assessment of the quota about 6 weeks after a month ends and U.S. Customs data provides an even more detailed picture of the market. Not only does U.S. Customs data allow users to estimate quota fulfillment within days of a product's entry into the country, it provides users with a clear understanding of the market share of specific of importers for the quota.
   

The U.S. government has made it easy for parties to report trade violations with their eAllegations website, however it still requires a professional to find and document questionable trade practices. Zepol provides the data needed to thoroughly investigate competitor and supplier trade activity with our U.S. Customs tool TradeIQ and our U.S. Census tool TradeView.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently announced that they have seized more than 3.4 million pieces of counterfeit party supplies. These products were from well known brands and had a retail value of over $4 million. It is clear that some of Customs Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) efforts are successful, but Zepol wonders what amount of pirated goods are never caught by authorities.

The U.S. Commerce Department also announced that they have launched a dumping investigation into the imports of commodity matchbooks from India. This comes close after an investigation of fasteners from China and Taiwan and the headline news of antidumping duties being placed on Chinese made tires. These are important actions for U.S. based manufacturers of these products, but could increase prices for U.S. consumers and businesses.

It will be interesting to see how the Obama administration prioritizes trade practices like those involved in IP and dumping cases. Recently, Commerce Secretary Locke pushed IPR on a trip to China, but dumping investigations are also a favorite subject of Labor. How this administration acts on these hot button trade topics in the next couple of months will be of great interest to importers and the companies that service them.

Zepol has been helping companies identify IPR violators and associated risks during the last several years and we have put some of these experiences in a case study, click here. We also have recently worked with several companies to document evidence in dumping cases to bring to the Department of Commerce. These are just some examples of how our customers are aggressively defending their businesses on multiple trade law fronts.

There are many events happening in the international trade arena in the coming months. With a wide variety of topics, covering issues from importing/exporting basics to supply chain security, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest topics. I wanted to try to bring some of the most relevant to the attention of the trade community and have listed several calendars and sites with regularly scheduled events.

• Sourcing Innovation (http://blog.sourcinginnovation.com) – Supply chain roundtables and seminars
• AAEI (www.aaei.org) – Trade webinars, seminars, and conferences
• Foreign Trade Association of Southern California (www.ftasc.org) – Trade events in Southern California
• Midwest Global Trade Association (www.mgta.org) – Trade seminars and classes in the Twin Cities
• FITA (www.fita.org) – Trade events and shows around the country
• NEXCO (www.nexco.org) – International trade events

Zepol's CEO and President, Paul Rasmussen, will also be participating in a panel discussion on "Importer Identity Theft" on July 14th in Long Beach, CA. This event is being conducted by the Foreign Trade Association and will delve into one of the hottest topics in importing today. Not only does importer identity theft impact your bottom line, but it is becoming an important enforcement area for law enforcement agencies in the United States.

For more information about this event or questions about what it will cover, check out our events page here. We are happy to answer any questions that you have about how Zepol is helping companies proactively protect themselves from this crime. In addition, please comment on this blog to understand how Zepol is ensuring the security of U.S. Customs trade data.

Every so often, one of our partners or customers puts on a trade event that we like to inform our readers about. Below is a description of an event that Neville Peterson LLP will be hosting in Washington, D.C. in late February.

Click here to download the event brochure

International Trade and Corporate Counsel Seminar

Neville Peterson LLP is an international law firm. They are sponsoring this event to focus on new and proposed governmental import/export regulations and requirements, discuss the establishment/maintenance of a trade compliance program, and provide tools that you can use to prepare an internal assessment of your compliance risks/opportunities.

As a leading trade data provider to trade compliance and legal industries, Zepol will be attending this event to meet with our customers, demonstrate our tools to prospects, and learn more about the latest information for the compliance industry. If you would like to request a demonstration while at this event, please click here.

Dates: February 25, 2009 to February 26, 2009
Location: The Resources and Conservation Center, Washington, DC
Website: www.npwtradelaw.com