In March, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers examining arriving shipments at an express consignment location in Austin, Texas, intercepted over 5,000 counterfeit designer face masks, hats and headbands valued at nearly $800,000.
Read more HERE.
Gil Sewing Corp., Chicago, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $14,863,500 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery contract for men’s uniform dress coats. This was a competitive acquisition with four responses received. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a May 6, 2022, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-21-D-1467).
This recall involves infant sleep bags, in size 0-6 months, that were sold under the brand names Dylan & Abby, First Wish, First Wish Organic, Harry & Me, Little Red Caboose, Piper & Posie, Sam & Jo, Sam & Jo Organic, Shabby Chic and Willow Blossom. The brand name and size are printed on two separate labels at the back of the neck. The style number is printed on a separate label located on the inside side seam behind the care label. The sleep bags zip up the middle or to the side of the front, and were sold in a variety of colors and designs, including animals, dinosaur bones, splatter paint, circus designs, construction, cars, florals, clouds, robots, stars, dino dudes, monsters and firetrucks. The following style numbers are included in the recall:
|
Brand Name |
Style Number |
|
Dylan & Abby |
CL01073 |
|
First Wish |
CL00824 CL00889 CL00911 |
|
First Wish Organic |
CL00981 CL00985 CL01099 |
|
Harry & Me |
CL01102 |
|
Little Red Caboose |
CL00756 CL00882 CL00899 CL00904 CL00905 CL00921 CL00924 CL00986 CL00987 |
|
Piper & Posie |
CL00819 CL00923 CL00982 CL01005 CL01006 CL01007 |
|
Sam & Jo |
CL00871 CL00890 CL00903 CL00906 CL00983 CL00984 |
|
Sam & Jo Organic |
CL01066 |
|
Shabby Chic |
CL00980 |
|
Willow Blossom |
CL00909 CL00913 |
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled infant sleep bags and contact TJX for instructions on how to participate in the recall and receive their choice of either a full refund or a store gift card.
No incidents or injuries have been reported.
T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores nationwide and online at tjmaxx.com, marshalls.com and sierra.com between April 2018 and February 2021 for about $20.
The TJX Companies Inc., of Framingham, Mass.
More information and photos HERE.
Atlantic Diving Supply Inc., doing business as ADS, Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE2DS-21-D-0004); W.S. Darley & Co., Itasca, Illinois (SPE2DS-21-D-0006); Owens and Minor Distribution Inc., Mechanicsville, Virginia (SPE2DS-21-D-0003); Regulus Global LLC, Virginia Beach, Virginia (SPE2DS-21-D-0002); and TQM LLC, doing business as Two Rivers Medical, Greer, South Carolina (SPE2DS-21-D-0005), are sharing a maximum $516,953,713 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract under solicitation SPE2DS-17-R-0002 for the Foreign Military Sales Medical and Surgical Tailored Logistics Support program. These were competitive acquisitions with eight responses received. These are one-year base contracts with four one-year option periods. Locations of performance are Virginia, Illinois and South Carolina, with a May 3, 2022, ordering period end date. Using customers are foreign military services worldwide. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds and Foreign Military Sales funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Within the U.S. industry it is widely understood that Department of Defense acquisitions of textiles and clothing are government by the Berry Amendment which requires domestic U.S. sourcing. Less well known is that the Berry Amendment applies to all funds "made available" to the Defense Department. That includes Department of Defense procurement for Foreign Military Sales.
As Agathon Associates REPORTED on February 2, 2021, Teijin Fibers and Hexcel Corp have been battling over FTZ since 2019.
On May 4, 2021, the Foreign-Trade Zone Board published in the Federal Register (86 FR 23672) Foreign-Trade Zone 38--Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Application for Production Authority, Teijin Carbon Fibers, Inc., Amendment of Application.
The amendment removes 12,000 tow polyacrylonitrile fiber (precursor) from the foreign-status materials/components that TCF could use under the requested FTZ authority.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel in Cleveland seized a shipment of 3.97 million nitrile disposable gloves due to information indicating they were made by forced labor, a form of modern slavery.
Read more HERE.
On April 30, 2021, The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its annual Special 301 Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of trading partners' protection of intellectual property rights and the findings of its Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy (the Review), which highlights online and physical markets that reportedly engage in and facilitate substantial trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy.
The Special 301 Report (Report) is the result of an annual review of the state of intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement in U.S. trading partners around the world, which the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) conducts pursuant to Section 182 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act, 19 U.S.C. § 2242). Congress amended the Trade Act in 1988 specifically “to provide for the development of an overall strategy to ensure adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights and fair and equitable market access for United States persons that rely on protection of intellectual property rights.” In particular, Congress expressed its concern that “the absence of adequate and effective protection of United States intellectual property rights, and the denial of equitable market access, seriously impede the ability of the United States persons that rely on protection of intellectual property rights to export and operate overseas, thereby harming the economic interests of the United States.”
This Report provides an opportunity to put a spotlight on foreign countries and the laws, policies, and practices that fail to provide adequate and effective IP protection and enforcement for U.S. inventors, creators, brands, manufacturers, and service providers, which, in turn, harm American workers whose livelihoods are tied to America’s innovation-driven sectors. The Report identifies a wide range of concerns, including: (a) challenges with border and criminal enforcement against counterfeits, including in the online environment; (b) high levels of online and broadcast piracy, including through illicit streaming devices; (c) inadequacies in trade secret protection and enforcement in China, Russia, and elsewhere; (d) troubling “indigenous innovation” and forced technology transfer policies that may unfairly disadvantage U.S. right holders in markets abroad; and (e) other ongoing, systemic issues regarding IP protection and enforcement, as well as market access, in many trading partners around the world. Combatting such unfair trade policies will encourage domestic investment inthe United States, foster American innovation and creativity, and increase economic security for American workers and families.
The Special 301 Subcommittee received stakeholder input on more than 100 trading partners, but focused its review on those submissions that responded to the request set forth in the notice published in the Federal Register to identify whether a particular trading partner should be named as a Priority Foreign Country, placed on the Priority Watch List or Watch List, or not listed in the Report. Following extensive research and analysis, USTR has identified 32 trading partners as follows:
Priority Watch List
- Argentina
- Chile
- China
- India
- Indonesia
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Ukraine
- Venezuela
Watch List
- Algeria
- Barbados
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Colombia
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Guatemala
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Mexico
- Pakistan
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Romania
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
With regard to China, tThe United States has been closely monitoring China’s progress in implementing its commitments under the United States-China Economic and Trade Agreement (Phase One Agreement). In 2020, China published several draft IP-related legal and regulatory measures and finalized over a dozen measures. Notably, China amended the Patent Law, Copyright Law, and Criminal Law in the past year. However, these steps toward reform require effective implementation and fall short of the full range of fundamental changes needed to improve the IP landscape in China.
