CBP is extending the comment period to April 10 for an existing information collections related to customs brokers. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the burden hours.

CBP is planning to unveil a new website on March 14, said Maria Luisa Boyce, senior advisor for trade at the agency. Boyce mentioned the coming change during the CBP Trade Symposium on March 7.

Fresh off of the Senate's approval of Gil Kerlikowske as CBP Commissioner (see 14030712), the new agency head told the CBP Trade Symposium March 7 that he has put in significant work already toward gaining understanding of trade. The long wait for Senate confirmation allowed Kerlikowske to gear up on the trade side of CBP, he said. Kerlikowske was responding to any concerns that his enforcement background, most recently as head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, might mean less attention to trade facilitation, he said.

CBP said the following customs broker licenses have been reinstated and are currently active:

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 6, 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 is modifying the scope of products covered by several Centers of Excellence and Expertise and eligible types of entries, in a March 10 Federal Register notice. The changes affect which products are covered by the Automotive & Aerospace; Base Metals; Consumer Products & Mass Merchandising; Industrial & Manufacturing Materials; Machinery; and Petroleum, Natural Gas & Mineral CEEs. New entry types include temporary importation under bond (TIB), trade fair, and antidumping/countervailing duty consumption entries. The notice also waives a CBP regulation to allow CEE test participants to submit corrected claims for duty-free treatment to the CEEs, and clarifies that responses to Notices of Action and Requests for Information must be sent electronically to the participant’s designated CEE. All of the changes take effect March 10.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 5, 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.)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested about $13.1 billion for CBP in the fiscal year (FY) 2015 budget, slightly up from $12.9 billion requested last year. The budget request includes a cut of $6 million in recurring funding related to the 2010 Import Safety Initiative, it said. "The reduction of this recurring funding would not allow CBP to hire an additional 52 personnel to support the 2010 Import Safety Mandate," said DHS. "The re-scoping of CBP’s Import Safety funding will reduce the support to the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC). An offset to the Import Safety Initiative will prevent the hiring of the six primary series that support the CTAC: International Trade Specialists (analysts), CBPOs (perform exams at port level), Import Specialists (merchandise classification), Paralegals (process enforcement cases), and Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures Officers (process enforcement actions). CBP will absorb these cuts as part of ongoing Trade Transformation initiatives.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website March 4, 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 posted a March 4 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.