CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Jan. 14. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
The Food and Drug Administration's Import Trade Auxiliary Communication System (ITACS) will be unable to upload documents from 9 a.m. Jan. 17 through 3 a.m. Jan. 18, said CBP in a CSMS message. Users should plan to submit documents either before or after this maintenance period, said CBP.
CBP posted documents on changes to the Customs and Trade Interface Requirements (CATAIR) Appendix T, which provides codes and qualifiers for the PGA Message Set. Changes include the removal of codes for the Fish and Wildlife Service and changes to codes for the Food Safety and Inspection Service. CBP also posted a list of changes to the IG PGA Message Set, including the removal of much Lacey Act-specific language, to make the text more generic.
CBP New York scheduled quarterly broker meetings for March 6, June, 5, Sept. 12 and Dec. 4, it said in an Informational Pipeline. All of the meetings will be in the Main Conference Room, 1100 Raymond Blvd., Newark, New Jersey, beginning at 10 a.m.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
In the Jan. 9 issue of the CBP Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 3), CBP published a notice proposing to revoke rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of docking stations with built-in radios for MP3 players.
CBP disagreed with Apple's assertion that leather and plastic iPad Smart Covers should be classified as accessories for automatic data processing (ADP) machines, the agency said in a ruling. Apple sought internal advice on the issue in May through the Electronics Center of Excellence and Expertise in Long Beach, Calif. CBP responded to Apple's request in HQ H216396, dated Oct. 9.
The increases to informal entry levels in the U.S. and Canada will be a boon to small and medium businesses that deal with low value imports of components, samples and raw materials, said the Express Association of America in a press release. CBP and the Canada Border Services Agency recently increased the value threshold for informal entry from $2,000 (CND1600) to $2,500 (CND2500). Importers of low value goods "will save a significant amount of time from not having to file formal entries and the streamlined release of their products," said the EAA.