The Port of Baltimore is closed March 17 due to a snowstorm in the region, said CBP in a CSMS message. Duties and entry summaries due March 17 at the Port of Baltimore (Port Code 1303) and Baltimore-Washington Airport (Port Code 1305) will be given an additional day without penalty.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 13, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at 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 will hold a Champlain, N.Y. "Trade Day" event on April from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., said CBP in a CSMS message. There will be no formal presentations, so "members of the trade community will be encouraged to bring questions and to interact on a one-on-one basis with the CBP and Partner Government Agency professionals," it said. The event will be held at 237 West Service Road in Champlain. Registration is (here).

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 12, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at 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 Seattle warned importers in a Trade Information Notice of the "potential impact of sequestration on vessel inspections" in the area now that Asian Gypsy Moth (AGM) high risk season has arrived. CBP asks that vessel crews look for egg masses when transporting goods from high risk countries in Asia. CBP also requests that "vessel agents provide two year port of call data at least 96 hours prior to vessel arrival." The agency recommends that vessels obtain AGM certificates when visiting high risk ports. Vessels that visited high risk ports in Russia are required to present an AGM certificate before being allowed to berth, while vessels that visited high risk ports in Japan, South Korea or China will be permitted to berth without the certification, CBP said.

CBP is extending the comment period to April 14 for an existing information collection on foreign trade zone (FTZ) reconciliation certification. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with a change to the burden hours.

CBP released its March 10 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 48, No. 10). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent Court of International Trade decisions.

Brokers will continue to be an integral part of the trade process even as the role of the CEEs increases, said Leon Hayward, director of the pharmaceuticals CEE, while speaking on a panel at the CBP Trade Symposium March 7. The companies that are involved in developing the CEEs have told Hayward “no matter how much this kind of stuff changes, we’re still going to use our brokers to file our entries” because “we don’t want to do that ourselves,” he said. That's been true at Nike, which is participating in a CEE, said Matt Varner, the company's director of trade operations. There is still a constant line of communication between Nike and its brokers , he said.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 10, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at 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 issued a final rule extending and amending import restrictions on archaeological and ecclesiastical ethnological materials from Honduras, effective March 12. The import restrictions were scheduled to expire March 12.