a) Gold and Silver

The provisions of the National Stamping Act are enforced in part by CBP and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). US imports of articles made of gold or alloys thereof are prohibited if the gold content is three one-thousandth parts below the indicated fineness. In the case of articles made of gold or gold alloy, including the solder and alloy of inferior fineness, three one-thousandth parts below the indicated fineness is permitted. Articles marked "sterling" or "sterling silver" must assay at least 0.925 of pure silver with a 0.004 divergence allowed. Other articles of silver or silver alloys must assay not less than 0.004 part below the indicated fineness thereof. Articles marked "coin" or "coin silver" must contain at least 0.900 part pure silver with an allowable divergence of 0.004 part below.

A person placing articles of good or silver bearing a fineness or quality mark such as 14K, sterling, etc., in the mail or in interstate commerce must place his name or registered trademark next to the fineness mark in letters the same size as the fineness mark. The trademark or name is not required at the time of importation; therefore, CBP has no direct responsibility for enforcement of the law. Persons making inquiry or seeking advice or interpretation of the law should consult the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Articles bearing the words "US Assay" are prohibited from importation. Articles made wholly or in part of inferior metal and plated or filled with gold or silver or alloys thereof, and that are marked with the degree of fineness, must also be marked to indicate the plated or filled content; in such cases, the use of the words "sterling" or "coin" is prohibited.

All restrictions on purchasing, holding, selling or otherwise dealing with gold were removed effective 31 December 1974 and gold may be imported subject to the usual CBP entry requirements. Any imitation numismatic item must be plainly and permanently marked "copy"; those that do not comply are subject to seizure and forfeiture. Unofficial gold coin re-strikes must be marked with the country of origin. It is advisable to obtain a copy of the legal proclamation under which the coins are issued, or else an affidavit of government sanction of coins should be secured from a responsible banking official if the proclamation is unavailable.

b) Counterfeit Articles

Articles bearing facsimiles or replicas of coins or securities of the US or any foreign country cannot be imported. Counterfeits of coins in circulation in the US; counterfeited, forged, or altered obligations or other securities of the US or any foreign government; and plates, dies, or other apparatus that may be used in making any of the foregoing are prohibited from importation.

c) Monetary Instruments

If a person knowingly transports, is about to transport, or has transported more than US$10,000 in monetary instruments at one time to, through or from the US, or if a person receives more than US$10,000 at one time from or through a place outside the US, a report of the transportation (CBP form 4790) must be filed with CBP. Monetary instruments include US or foreign coin or currency; traveller's cheques in any form, personal and other cheques, and money orders, either in bearer-negotiable form or endorsed without restriction; and securities or stocks in bearer form. A bank check or money order made payable to a named person but not endorsed, or which bears a restrictive endorsement, is not considered to be a "monetary instrument".

d) Anti-money Laundering Requirements

Effective 1 January 2006, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is requiring US dealers and retailers handling precious metals, stones or jewels to have in place an anti-money laundering (AML) programme. As part of this requirement, US dealers may seek to gather various information from their foreign suppliers in order to evaluate the risks associated with transactions involving those companies. While foreign suppliers are under no legal obligation to respond to these inquiries, failure to do so could jeopardise existing business relationships.

The AML requirement applies to US dealers who have purchased and sold at least US$50,000 worth of covered goods during the previous year. It does not apply to foreign dealers who (a) ship products into the US without conducting further business activity within the US or (b) merely advertise in the US or attend a trade show in the US at which they do not purchase and sell covered goods above the threshold amounts. Covered goods include jewels, precious metals and precious stones, as well as finished goods that derive 50% or more of their value from such goods contained in or attached to the finished items.

US dealers and retailers are required to implement an AML programme that is reasonably designed to prevent them from being used to facilitate money laundering or the financing of terrorist activities. FinCEN allows significant flexibility in designing AML programmes, which must be based on a risk assessment that evaluates a company's particular risks for being exploited for money laundering purposes. This assessment must reflect the company's knowledge of, among other things, its particular suppliers and distribution channels. When the risk is determined to be low, the AML programme should be designed to have fewer reporting requirements.

AML programmes are likely to include the gathering of additional information from foreign suppliers. While suppliers are not legally bound to provide this information, a dealer or retailer will likely drop a supplier that fails to respond, as the dealer or retailer could be subject to penalties if it fails to gather and maintain sufficient information about its suppliers.

As a result, it is recommended that suppliers provide the information requested by a dealer or retailer. On the other hand, if the information requested in onerous and a company is an established supplier not routing payment through designated risk jurisdictions, it should request to supply less information.

Suppliers should note that most US dealers are also required to file FinCEN Forms 8300 (Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business), TD F90-22.1 (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts), and 105 (Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments), and should therefore supply the information needed for dealers to fill out these forms.

B. Petroleum and Petroleum Products

Importations of petroleum and petroleum products are subject to DOE requirements. An import licence is no longer required but an import authorisation may be needed. These importations may also be subject to an oil import licence fee collected and administered by the DOE.

C. Lottery Tickets

The importation of lottery tickets is prohibited.

D. Artefacts/Cultural Property

A number of US laws are applicable to importations of artefacts such as archaeological and ethnological objects. For example, US law prohibits the importation of pre-Columbian monumental and architectural sculpture and murals from countries in Central and South America without proper export permits from the country of origin. CBP will not accept an export permit from a third country.

CBP has published import restrictions on objects and artefacts in the Federal Register; these restrictions may also be viewed online at the web site of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. These restrictions are aimed at deterring the pillage of other countries' cultural heritage and fostering opportunities for access to cultural objects for legitimate scientific, cultural and educational purposes.

Federal law also prohibits the importation of any article of cultural property stolen from museums or from religious or secular public monuments.

E. Trademarks, Trade Names and Copyrights

a) Trademarks and Trade Names

Articles bearing counterfeit trademarks are subject to seizure and forfeiture. A counterfeit trademark is defined as a spurious trademark that is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a registered trademark. Marks that copy or simulate a registered trademark that has been recorded with CBP are subject to detention and possible seizure and forfeiture. The importation of "parallel" or "grey market" goods is restricted where the restricted trademark has been recorded with CBP and grey market protection has been afforded. In such instances, grey market merchandise is subject to detention and possible seizure and forfeiture. CBP also affords similar protection against unauthorised shipments bearing trade names that are recorded with CBP pursuant to regulations.

An exemption is provided for articles accompanying any person arriving in the US when such articles are for his or her personal use and not for sale.

Only one infringing item of each type bearing a registered trademark is permitted. An individual may take advantage of this exemption only once within a 30-day period.

b) Copyrights

Articles imported into the US that are piratical of a registered copyright are subject to seizure and forfeiture.

F. Miscellaneous Security, Ethical and Trade Remedy-related Restrictions

a) Foreign Assets Control Restrictions

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers regulations that generally prohibit the importation into the US of most goods, technology or services from:

•  Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe;
•  foreign persons designated by the Secretary of State as having promoted the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
•  named foreign terrorist organisations; and
•  designated terrorists and narcotics traffickers.

These restrictions apply to the country of origin, regardless of where the item was acquired. In most cases, restrictions do not apply to informational materials such as pamphlets, books, tapes, films or recordings.

The importation of Cuban cigars and Iranian carpets is subject to certain restrictions. There are also strong restrictions on the importation of rough diamonds ("conflict diamonds") from Sierra Leone and Liberia. The importation of round logs of timber products from Liberia is prohibited.

Specific licences are required to bring prohibited merchandise into the US, but they are rarely granted. Foreign visitors to the US, however, may be permitted to bring in small articles for personal use as accompanied baggage, depending upon the goods' country of origin.

b) Obscene, Immoral and Seditious Materials

The importation of the following materials is prohibited.

• Seditious Materials. Any book, writing, advertisement, circular or picture containing any matter advocating or urging treason or insurrection against the US, or forcible resistance to any law of the US, or containing any threat to take the life of or inflict bodily harm upon any person in the US.
  
  
• Obscene Materials. Any obscene book, writing, advertisement, circular, picture or other representation, figure, or image on or of paper or other material, and any instrument or other article which is obscene or immoral.

c) Products of Convict or Forced Labour

Merchandise produced, mined or manufactured wholly or in part by means of the use of convict labour, forced labour or indentured labour under penal sanctions is prohibited from importation, provided a finding has been published pursuant to CBP regulations that certain classes of merchandise from a particular country, produced by convict, forced or indentured labour, were either being, or are likely to be, imported into the US in violation of US law.

d) Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labour

Federal agencies are prohibited from buying products that have been made with forced or indentured child labour. Federal contractors who supply products on a list published by the Department of Labour (DOL) must certify that they have made a good faith effort to determine whether forced or indentured child labour was used to produce those products. This list includes bamboo (Burma), beans (yellow, soya, and green beans) (Burma), bricks (hand-made) (Burma, Pakistan), chillies (Burma), corn (Burma), pineapples (Burma), rice (Burma), rubber (Burma), shrimp (aquaculture) (Burma), sugarcane (Burma) and teak (Burma). Contact the International Labour Affairs Bureau (ILAB), Department of Labour, at www.dol.gov/ILAB for more information.

e) Unfair Competition

Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 prohibits the importation of merchandise if the president finds that unfair methods of competition or unfair acts exist. This section is most commonly invoked in the case of patent violations, although a patent need not be at issue. Prohibitions on entries of the merchandise in question are generally for the term of the patent, although a different term may be specified.

Following a section 337 investigation, the USITC may find that unfair methods of competition or unfair acts exist with respect to the importation of certain merchandise and order that such importations cease. After the USITC has issued such an order, the president is allowed 60 days to communicate his approval or disapproval. Should the 60 days expire with presidential action, the order becomes final. During the 60-day period, or until the president acts, importations of subject merchandise are allowed under a special bond, but they must be recalled by CBP if appropriate under the conditions of the order when it becomes final. If the president determines that entry of the merchandise is not in violation of Section 337, the bond is cancelled.

f) Treasury Department

Importations of articles bearing the title, abbreviations, initials, symbols, emblems, seals or badges of any subdivision of the Treasury Department, or likeness thereof, are prohibited unless the subdivision has authorised such use.

g) US Trade Representative Actions

The USTR handles Section 301 complaints against foreign unfair trade practices that harm US exporters. USTR actions that may directly affect US importers include the suspension of trade concessions. For example, the USTR may suspend the normal trade relations (NTR) rate of duty and substitute a substantially higher rate of duty on designated products from a foreign country that is found to be discriminating against US products.

The DOC's ITA has a notification system that advises importers of USTR actions regarding Section 301 matters. To sign up for notifications, go to www.ita.doc.gov/td/industry/otea/301alert/form.html.