Seminar Clarifies CBI Developments
The Trade and Development Act of 2000 and how it pertains to apparel manufacturers was the topic of a one-hour seminar that the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) hosted at the Las Vegas Hilton, Feb. 14 during the MAGIC International and MAGICKids trade shows.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBI/Africa) were examined from the act’s origin to its current status.
One of the biggest problems the act has faced since the former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, signed the CBI/Africa bill last May was a misunderstanding by customs officials regarding visa requirements, according to Steve Lamar, the AAFA’s director of government relations.
“Customs was still requiring visas because no one had told them not to,” he said.
This misunderstanding caused bottlenecks at many ports, especially in Miami, Lamar said.
Manufacturers trying to produce goods in the Caribbean region were also tackling unclear regulation instructions, according to Lamar.
“We’ve had delays in the various procedures, lots of paperwork confusion, in addition to confusion as to what has to be claimed,” he said. “But we’re still working on that.”
Other areas the AAFA is still working to resolve include:
bull; Establishing final customs regulations
bull; Collection and reporting of census statistics in a more accurate way for the apparel industry
bull; Publication of transshipment safeguard procedures
bull; Setting a labor rights review deadlines for Guatemala, Honduras and Nicararagua. If Guatemala does not pass the labor rights review by the end of April, they may lose their preference in the program.
For further information on CBI and the seminar, contact Lamar at (703) 524-1864, x 1014, or via e-mail at slamar@apparelandfootwear.org.
