The Great Gibson Guitar Raid … Months later, still no charges

If that was the only issue, you might have a point fm.


But.. it was a continuing practice since 2009 which is why it got to the point of the raid and confiscation AT Gibson.
They CHANGED the code during shipment. A practice that raises huge legal issues. The item didn't change during shipment and the HTS codes are the same worldwide.

What if you wife sent something to Canada and it was classified as a knitted sweater when it left the US and then it was classified as raw wool when it got to Canada. I would expect there to be some question as to why it changed in that time frame.

Import/export companies are paid money to make sure the CORRECT code is used because the wrong code can result in items being confiscated.

Huge? really?

Thats never the issue. Its always when it comes BACK to the US. We would send wool as "RA unwashed wool" on entry to canada and finished yarn on return.
In 2005 the Commerce dept(without saying **** to us) reclassified spun wool as "finished product" when it was always , before that, merely "raw wool, carbonized , and spun".
I think that, perhaps, Gibson is getting a screwing by our good ole Commerce guys who had updated the Laqcey regs ONCE AGAIN, in 2009.

Im not a big fan of the screw jobs that importers, and "exporter/importers" get from the US government. Youve just read some **** on the web and believe that its a big legal deal , Im sorry, Im not impressed by how Commerce had been ******* with us ever since 9/11.


Think about it. Gibson has, as far as I can see, imported hunks of wood with the only deviance from the code catalog being a difference of 3 mm thickness on the ebony.

Shall we really send all the Gibson execs to Leavenworth or shall we figure out and rectify the code error.

Dont be gettin so PC about this until you try to import something into the land of the free. I awlays thought Canada was a land full of regs and HST's and VAT's. We got em beat by a mile.

Sre of that?. If they did since 2009 (when the laws changed around them ). What if theyd been doing that all along and only since 2009 was the code change an issue?

I know that code changes (for expediency) get changed by the brokers all the time (We deal with 3 different brokers depending on the specific product she is destining her wool for.

Brokers are(IMHO) like lobbyists. The govt states that we need them and they are regulated by ISCC's , yet I have no idea what service they provide to anyone.

No one is arguing that.
The law allows for civil penalties and/or criminal penalties

At this point in time Gibson is only dealing with civil penalties. No criminal charges have yet been filed.

The charges filed with the court state the shipment left India with one code on the shipping document, entered US with another code listed on the shipping document. The shipment also entered the US with a listed destination OTHER than Gibson even though Gibson was the intended US destination. Did you bother to read any of the information other than the **** posted on some websites?

The government filed documents with the courts. Gibson has not disputed those facts.

Of course there have been code changes over time in the HTS, but this wasn't an issue of a code change in the HTS.

I read what you p[osted. DId you read ylour own stuff? It stated that the ebony was improperly coded as it loeft India and en route.
The articleby EIA.com (who the hell are they and nwhat status and standing does this outfit have?) We are quick to give gunga crap for his douche bag sites, is EIA just a douche bag site from the other side?

Im outta here, I really dont see Gibson involved in a "crime" that required confiscation of semi finished guitars.
People have, in the recent past, been held without charges or have had property stolen by the govt with years before any resolution and the victims are often financially ruined. I see a parallel here.
The govt needs to have some humility, it is not all seeing and all powerful and if you feel that they should be, we have very little to discuss then. See ya.

Here is the affidavit filed by the government for the search warrant fm.
It lists the info about how the shipment that was stopped had faulty paperwork. It also lists the size of the wood in the shipment. It states the paperwork did not correctly give the final consignee.

It then goes on to list 11 other instances of Gibson receiving banned wood from India which is what they were searching for.

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wtvf/PDF/GibsonAffidavit.pdf

Probably not and I certainly don't. I just vote paradork's and monkeyjerk's **** down without reading any of it, **** em....