The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 was signed into law by President Clinton on April 25, 2000. It took effect last Wednesday, August 23. No more indefinite wondering what is going on with your goods. 2. makes it easier to reclaim seized property, including requiring the provision of counsel to those who are indigent. The present Customs requirement that claimants post a bond before trying to get their property back is voided.
Courts are thus more accessible due to lower costs associate with their use.
The days of placing the onus of proving innocence on the importer are over. 5. establishes standards for compensating people for damages and legal expenses if they must sue to get their property back. The fact that Customs is going to, once again, dedicate a large part of its audit teams to the same companies' reviews lessens the chance of audit for small and medium firms which have not experienced the joy of auditing yet. According to the story, Customs says the follow-up audits will be considerably shorter than the original ones, which often took well over a year. The FMC has just completed a third round of license revocations, mostly for failure to maintain required surety bonds.