CBP's official notice beginning a pilot program that would test a combined Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Importer Self Assessment (ISA) was delayed in order to include information on participation by other government agencies, said CBP in a document released ahead of the Feb. 20 Advisory Committee on the Commercial Operations of CBP (COAC) meeting. CBP said in November it planned to officially request pilot participants for the program, known as "Trusted Trader," by the end of 2013 (see 13111920). Another COAC working group said it is working to develop recommendations for customs broker permitting updates by May.
Send event information for inclusion in the International Trade Today Calendar toITTNews@warren-news.com.
International Trade Today won't be published on Monday, Feb. 17, due to the Presidents Day holiday. Our next issue will be Tuesday, Feb. 18.
CBP highlighted the information sharing efforts at the Port of Antwerp in Belgium as a cargo security best practice in a Feb. 12 Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) bulletin. "Businesses operating at the Port of Antwerp are now able to participate in a program that facilitates the exchange of information about cargo-related crime between companies and authorities," it said. "The system, known as the Neighborhood Information Network (BIN), allows companies to submit anonymous tips about suspicious activity in the port area, which police then disseminates to other companies participating in the program. Approximately 650 companies were asked to join the program and 451 are now participating in the project."
Cut flower shipments will be required to include the stems count for each type of flower and air waybill in an "electronic sampling breakdown sheet" given to CBP Miami International Airport Agriculture Air Cargo Inspections Unit, said CBP Miami in an information bulletin. The new requirement is effective Feb. 17, it said.
The Food and Drug Administration will hold three public meetings to discuss a recent proposal that would create new sanitation requirements for transporting food (see 14020301). The first two meetings will cover "both the focused mitigation strategies to protect food against international adulteration and sanitary transportation of human and animal food proposed rules" and will be held in Chicago and Anaheim, Calif., said the FDA. The third meeting, in College Park, Md., will "cover only the sanitary transport proposed rule during the proposed rule comment period," the agency said. The Chicago meeting is scheduled for Feb. 27, the California meeting for March 13, and the Maryland meeting for March 20, it said.
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) updated its policy for "gluten-free" labeling following a review of the Food and Drug Administration's final rule on the subject issued in August (see 13080213), said TTB. "TTB believes that it is important to adopt an approach on this issue that is as consistent as possible with the regulations that FDA issued," it said. "Under our updated policy, alcohol beverages that are made from ingredients that do not contain gluten (such as wines fermented from grapes or other fruit and distilled spirits distilled from materials other than gluten-containing grains) may continue to make 'gluten-free' claims in the same way allowed in the new FDA regulations for inherently gluten-free products."
In the Feb. 12 Issue of the Customs Bulletin (Vol. 48, No. 6), CBP issued a notice regarding the dates and draft agenda for the 53rd Session of the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized System Committee (HSC), which will meet in Brussels from March 3-14.
CBP is extending the comment period to March 7 for an existing information collection on requests for information. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the burden hours.
CBP posted a Feb. 10 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.