While I am a newbie to this forum, I am not new to most of the links in the logistics chain. I have been involved with shipping, importing and exporting since the early 1960s. Most people would call me a 3LP - third-party logistics provider. As such, I have a number of clients that have been in the past, and are currently importing Japanese minitrucks. I arrange the transportation all the way from Japan to their door, and I coordinate their Customs entries and E. P. A. compliance. I hope I can answer some of your questions with some general information. According to information provided by E. P. A. officials in Washington, there have been "several" requests for extensions. There have been only two that have been approved - one is in Maine, and the other is in Texas. According to the dealer in Texas, his extension is valid until December 9, 2009, and E. P. A. placed a cap of 200 units on his extension, and it applies to 2003 year models and older. While I have not yet talked to the dealer in Maine, I would assume E. P. A. placed a similar cap on his imports, as well. I also read in my local newspaper, and in several web sites that the new administration stopped all "pending regulations that the Bush administration tried to push through in it's waining days." Regarding regulations that went through too fast for the incomining administration to act on, President Obama has said "he will work to reverse the changes. But because the rules took effect before he was sworn in, he would have to restart the rulemaking process." As of this time I don't know what, if any, impact this is going to have on the E. P. A., but there does seem to be a ray of hope here. I will be making further posts, but I will be happy to answer whatever questions for you that I can. You can find my website in my profile.
Yes, sir, I beleive you are correct. However, there is only one request where I have actually seen the E. P. A.'s written document. One thing that I perhaps I could have added is that we are dealing with 2003 and older models here.
decision i don't think there is any connection at all between the E.P.A. decision and any Presidental Legislation.
Yes the way I understand it to be if you get the extension then you are allowed to continue to operate as before as long as you are woring toward your conformity. I have heard about the cap for some but not all. I however have not seen the official letter so all I know is "hearsay" but they do come from reliable people that would have no advantage to not being truthful. We have just filed our extension and we are hoping to hear something within a few weeks. I will be happy to share my knowledge once everything is final. I would hate to explain how things work if I did not get the extension myself. I know that my lawyers have been on overtime making sure that every "i" is dotted and "t" is crossed.
Extensions We have had a request in since before Christmas for one of our clients. The only thing we can get from E. P. A. officials is a brief acknowlegement that they received our request. Just about every time I call I get the 'ole Texas Two Step.
You gotta remember that the Government shuts down from 1 week before xmas to 1 week after new years, then this being an inaguration year they have to prepare for that so it has been 1/2 days for the last 2 weeks. So, if you got your extension in before xmas then they have only worked with it for about 4hrs so far.
I don't know who got what and the EPA isn't going to go through and list all the recipients. We received ours about two weeks ago, we submitted our request on Dec 5, three days before the cut off. I was told that any requests submitted after the 8th would not be considered, that's why we busted a$$ to get ours in by the deadline. Yes, there is one year or set number of trucks, which ever comes first. But you do need to be working towards certification, which we are. So, if there is anyone else out there that got there's send me a PM and maybe we can discuss working together on the certification process.
This just in from EPA I questioned E.P.A. officials about the new administration's review of new and pending regulations (see my first post). This is the reply that I received yesterday afternoon. Thank you for your E-Mail about the review of regulations issued in the latter part of the administration of President Bush. We do not believe the EPA regulations which affect the importers of used Japanese minitrucks are affected by the White House action described in the newspaper stories you referenced. The newspaper stories you referenced in your E-Mail discuss a memorandum dated January 20, 2009 from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to the heads of all Executive Departments and Agencies. I have attached this Memo for your reference. The EPA final regulations which impact imported used minitrucks (i.e., the regulations that will affect the importation of vehicles that have been converted to nonroad use but were originally built and used as motor vehicles overseas) are not affected by this White House Memorandum. The EPA regulations are not included in any of the scenarios outlined in the memo. This is because these regulations were published in the Federal Register on October 8, 2008, and became effective 60 days later, on December 8, 2008. Therefore, the EPA regulations affecting importers of used Japanese minitrucks remain in effect, and importers must comply with these regulations (or apply for temporary relief from the new requirements, as explained in the "EPA Fact Sheet: Nonroad Vehicles converted from Uncertified Motor Vehicles" which we distributed to you and numerous minitruck importers in November 2008). I appreciate your questions, and I hope this answer is helpful. Sincerely, Robert Doyle If anyone would like to see the White House memorandum give me a call - Mr. Doyle provided a copy of that.
10+2 Fremont just brought up a subject that I dont see anybody talking about. These guys are really on top of their game. What do you know about Customs' 10+2 program?
subject what subject are you making reference to? 10+2 IS THE NEW SECURITY FILING= this is for your custom broker
Barry Hussein has been spitting out Executive Orders like there's no tommorow! I think it's up to 6 in 4 days now? Maybe you can put in a request exempting all importers of Mini Trucks from EPA standards.
10+2 Barry Hussein didn't have anything to do with this one. 10+2 has been in the works for the last 2 or 3 years. I would encourage y'all to look at the information that has just been posted in our website because it is affecting what we are doing now.
Thanks for the kind words but unfortunately I don't fully understand the new 10+2, I only know about 8 of the new 10 so I have a lot more learn. I didn't put a lot of focus on it because I doubted the extension but now that we got it I need to get up to speed fast!
10+2 Ask your customs broker about it - he should be up to speed by now. If he isn't informed let me know and I will be more than glad to point you to my broker. He happens to be about as good as any we have in Houston. I've know him for only about 40 years. Basically, your broker has to file for a shipement before it ever loads in Japan. My broker says there is software available and that he is checking out two of the packages. CPB is encouraging everyone to start filing as much information as they can by Jan. 26th. Dayammm - thats Monday. The date for full mandantory filing is Jan. 26, 2010, so you have a little time to work on this. I am also under the impression that you can do this yourself if you have the software. I am seriously considering doing that for my clients, but I haven't checked out everything that is involved. Let me know if you need help and I will get you headed in the right direction.
