U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that on August 27, 2011, it deployed the code for new capabilities related to rail and sea manifest (M1). There will be no operational use of the new M1 system until it is deemed fully operational and stable. At that time, the agency will notify trade partners that have completed their certification and testing that they can begin transmitting to ACE. CBP is also set to deploy its new ACE Portal capabilities, which are slated to be available to the trade on August 29 and September 6, in a two-phased approach.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to CBP's Web site as of August 24, 2011, along with the case number(s), period covered, and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.

CBP has posted the U.S. Border Patrol Weekly Blotter for August 18 - 24, 2011. The Blotter provides information on Border Patrol activities during the specified week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at the Port of New York/Newark have found khapra beetle larvae inside a shipment of rice arriving from Pakistan. CBP issued an Emergency Action Notification to the importer. Due to the physical status of the commodity and the packing material used for the importation (double-bagged in burlap and plastic) re-exportation or destruction were the only available options. This is the second occurrence of the khapra beetle being found at the Port of NY/NJ in a shipment of rice in the last month.

In the August 24, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 35), CBP published a notice on its revocation of nine rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of certain beverage dispensers and motorized utility vehicles.

In the August 24, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 35), CBP published a notice on its revocation and modification of six rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of certain plush animals with lights and the preferential tariff treatment of certain garments with belts.

In the August 24, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 35), CBP published a notice on its modification of a ruling and similar treatment pertaining to the definition of “cut” in the term "cut but not set" as it is used in Chapter 71 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that on August 29, 2011, it will open a new Ready Lane at the Calexico East port of entry for travelers who have a travel document enabled with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The Ready Lane is for vehicle traffic and only accepts RFID-enabled cards, such as a U.S. Passport Card, SENTRI card, the new Legal Permanent Resident “green card” and the new Border Crossing Card. In order to use this dedicated lane, all adult passengers in the vehicle over the age of 16 must present an approved travel card. Travelers do not have to be pre-approved to use this lane.

This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels¹ from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that in order to provide the least disruption to trade business operations, the times for the outage window provided in CSMS Message #11-000190 have been changed.The outage will now begin at 0200 EDT Saturday, August 27, 2011 and continue until 1200 EDT Saturday, August 27, 2011.