Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated July 8 with 50 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 182,712. The most recent ruling is dated 06/27/14.
The U.S. and Chile signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement on June 30 that outlines collaborative work on security and trade facilitation between the two countries, CBP said in a press release. The White House previously said the agreement was in the works (see 14063032). The agreement will help CBP and ICE in the effort to "work to prevent, detect and investigate customs offenses,” said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske.
CBP released its July 9 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 48, No. 27). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent Court of International Trade decisions and general notices.
CBP posted a list of exporter eligibility requirements for participation within the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. The agency and industry has long discussed opening up the security program to exporters and a Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations subcommittee recently gave its approval to the eligibility requirements (here).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 30 - July 3 in case they were missed.
CBP determined that Foley catheter trays originate in the U.S. and China for government procurement “buy American” purposes, the agency said in a notice. The ruling came in response to a request from Medline, which developed the trays and "is considering selling to the U.S. Government in an unspecified procurement tender", said CBP. The "sterilized, single-use trays contain a catheter and all of the equipment necessary to insert the catheter, the ruling said. The equipment and catheter are "organized and sequenced in a way to minimize the possibility of infection," it said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP will add a number of new features to the Automated Commercial Environment in a July 12 update, the agency said in a information notice. The deployment will add unified filing of cargo release and importer security filing data, it said. Six shipment types will be allowed within ACE Cargo Release: Standard or regular filings, To Order Shipments, Military and Government, U.S. Goods Returned, International Mail Shipments, and Outer Continental Shelf Shipments. All others will need to be filed as stand-alone ISF transactions, it said. The update will also add system validations for entry summaries, it said. Users will see new system error messages for informal entry restrictions, charges restrictions, taxes and other fees, it said.
CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske and Israel's Tax Authority Director General Moshe Asher recently finalized a mutual recognition arrangement that allows for the two countries to consider each other's trusted trader programs -- Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) in the U.S. and Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) for Israel -- for customs purposes, said CBP. As expected (see 14061619), the signing was held at the World Customs Organization conference in Brussels, Belgium. "The arrangement provides tangible and intangible benefits to C-TPAT and Israel AEO program members to include: fewer exams when shipping cargo, a faster validation process, common standards, efficiency for Customs and business, transparency between Customs administrations, business resumption, front of the line processing, and marketability," it said.The agency announced plans for a mutual recognition in 2012 (see 12121007).
CBP ruled that "All-In-One" (AIO) toner cartridges originate in Japan for government procurement “buy American” purposes. The ruling came in response to a request from Ricoh Company, which designed and developed the cartridges, said CBP. Unlike most cartridges, the Ricoh cartridges contain a cleaning unit, which cleans the surface of the organic photo conductor (OPC) that allows the toner particles to be affixed to paper, and a development unit, in addition to the powder. The OPC drum is produced in Thailand with parts from various countries and requires "experienced technicians, as the assembly is of a delicate nature," the ruling said. "We find that substantial manufacturing operations are performed in Japan in producing the AIO cartridge," said CBP. "While the OPC drum is manufactured in Thailand, the other parts of the cleaning unit originate in Japan. As a result of the assembly of the cleaning unit in Japan, the OPC drum becomes an integral part of the cleaning unit such that it may be considered a product of Japan."