CBP's ACE team is continuing to work with the International Trade Data System (ITDS) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) to determine which forms will be added for use within the Document Image System (DIS), which is now in the first phase of a pilot. CBP released a series of questions and answers on the program. Phase 1 of DIS include documents for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and National Marine Fisheries Service/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NMFS/NOAA). CBP hasn't said when the next phase will start.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
CBP's Office of Information and Technology posted a list of companies/persons who have developed software applications for ACE electronic truck manifest and have been through CBP's testing process. Inclusion on the list doesn't constitute an endorsement by CBP about the nature, extent or quality of the services, which may be provided, it cautioned. CBP noted there are many additional authorized ACE electronic truck manifest filing services that aren't listed. The list is limited to the primary developers of software that assembles and formats data for transmission to CBP. It does not include authorized data processing services that incorporate, use or market the software products of the listed companies/persons to provide ACE electronic truck manifest filing services.
This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels from CBP’s July 9 “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report.” It also lists the TRQ commodities on CBP’s weekly July 9, 2012 “TRQ/TPL Threshold to Fill List.”1
The Treasury Department and CBP issued a final rule, effective July 16, which amends CBP regulations to reflect the extension of import restrictions on Pre-Classical and Classical Archaeological Objects and Byzantine Ecclesiastical and Ritual Ethnological Materials from Cyprus for an additional five years, and contains a list of articles to which the restrictions apply. The last extension in 2007 is scheduled to expire on July 16. A notice on the extension ran in the Federal Register July 13. A designated list of cultural property will be revised to include items dating from the Post-Byzantine period (c. 1500 A.D. to 1850 A.D.) The revised Designated List also clarifies that certain mosaics of stone and wall hangings (specifically, to include images of Saints among images of Christ, Archangels, and the Apostles) are covered under the import restrictions.
In the July 5, 2012 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 28), CBP published two notices of its revocation of its rulings and treatment regarding the tariff classification of stacking drawers and nickel bolts.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's web site as of July 10, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
CBP officers at Miami International Airport seized 0.25 Kg of Heroin found in a cargo of flowers, the agency said. The seizure took place during a routine examination of cargo coming from Bogota, Colombia, during which CBP officers saw a cylinder shaped object hidden among carnations. A closer examination of the cylinder by CBP officers revealed the presence of a brown powdering substance which later tested positive for Heroin. There were no arrests in connection with this seizure as CBP did not find a link between the shipper or the importer and the drugs, said CBP.
The Import Specialist Enforcement Team (ISET) at CBP's Laredo Port of Entry recently seized a commercial shipment of counterfeit watches and other watches used to facilitate the importation carrying a combined retail value of $28.7 million.