AAEI is launching a new feature, recognition of its Trade Champions, your fellow AAEI members whose careers in international trade have had significant impact on the development of trade policy and practice. AAEI’s first Trade Champion is Lee Sandler, of Sandler, Travis and Rosenberg.
Lee began his career as a senior trial attorney in the Customs Section of the Justice Department. From there, Lee went into private practice and never looked back. Naturally he specialized in international trade, including the technical areas of tariff classification, valuation and preference; quota qualification; product marking and labeling laws; copyright and trademark protection; security measures; trade compliance and audit programs; penalty avoidance and defense; and multiple other import requirements administered by federal and state agencies (e.g., FDA, EPA, USDA) involving issues such as health, safety, the environment and ethical sourcing.
Lee was appointed by five administrations to advise the U.S. government on trade negotiations, the Customs Valuation Agreement, the Harmonized Tariff Classification Agreement and the Kyoto Convention. He has served on the Advisory Committee on Customs Commercial Operations (COAC), where he played a leading role in the committee’s work on the development of the Department of Homeland Security and on security programs such as the Container Security Initiative and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT).
As a former member of AAEI’s Board of Governors and a current member of the Industry Leadership Council, Lee has helped guide the Association’s pursuit of trade priorities for many years. His contributions to AAEI’s goals continue to this day.
With gratitude, AAEI is pleased to confer yet another accolade to Lee’s storied career as the Association’s first Trade Champion.
