CBP held Webinars on June 13 and 14 to help prepare industry during the ongoing six month transition for ACE e-Manifest: Rail and Sea. Effective September 29, 2012, ACE will be the only approved EDI for transmitting required advance rail and sea cargo information and ABI in-bond transactions to CBP. The June 14th Webinar is available (here).

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) voiced concern with the Department of Homeland Security's proposed continued exemption of the Automated Targeting System (ATS) from provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974.

CBP said since 8 a.m. on June 25 responses to user input (i.e., 355, MR, AR) in ACE PROD have not been generated by CBP. A work ticket has been open CBP will provide an update when the issue has been resolved, CBP said in a CSMS message.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold webinars on the CBP Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Document Imaging System (DIS) Testing, said CBP in a CSMS message. EPA is seeking participants for this first phase of DIS, which begins in July.

The CBP Import Specialist Enforcement Team at the Laredo Port of Entry seized a commercial shipment of jeans valued at $193,800 that was discovered to infringe on the Levi Strauss and Co. registered trademark, said the agency.

CBP has posted an updated version of its points of contact document for the Remote Location Filing program. The document lists the port name; port code; and contact name, phone number, and fax number.

CBP said the third quarter 2012 (July 1 - Sept. 30) Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties are: 2% for overpayments by corporations; 3% for overpayments by non-corporations; and 3% for underpayments. These rates are unchanged from the corresponding rates in effect for the second quarter of calendar year 2012. The CBP Federal Register notice ran June 26.

CBP said the joint pilot conducted with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to test the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea (M1) functionality was a success. The Coast Guard became the first Participating Government Agency (PGA) to successfully navigate ACE M1 in production during a series of operational trials in May piloted in Charleston, SC, said CBP. The trials will result in better targeting capability of high risk cargo, improved communication to the trade community, and greater border security.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:

CBP seized nearly 5,000 pounds of marijuana June 16, worth nearly $2.5 million, hidden in a shipment of watermelons, the agency said in a press release. Officers at the Mariposa Cargo facility in Arizona referred a 26-year-old male Mexican national for a secondary inspection of his tractor-trailer load of melons, said CBP. A physical inspection of the shipment revealed 674 bundles of marijuana weighing almost 5,000 pounds, co-mingled with the shipment. The marijuana had been disguised as melons and was verified by a CBP narcotics detection canine. The tractor-trailer, drugs, and produce were processed for seizure. The driver was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.