U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of the BREEZ patient transport chair. CBP has determined that the U.S. is the country of origin of the patient transport chair for purposes of U.S. government procurement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of the Iridium 9555 satellite telephone. CBP has determined that Malaysia or Singapore is the country of origin, depending on where the last substantial transformation occurs for the transceiver and application boards, which together convey the satphone’s essential character.

CBP has issued the following news releases:

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to CBP's Web site, 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 an updated version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) - an electronic query report for CF 1400 of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP has also posted an updated CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) - an electronic query report for CF 1401 of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.

CBP has posted an updated version of its Public Automated Commercial System FIRMS (Facilities Information and Resources Management Systems) report that is organized by port code and alphabetically by company name.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that from July 24 through July 28, it has confiscated 11 tons of marijuana from the Rio Grande Valley Sector. The largest of the seizures occurred on July 26, when a man attempted to drive a tractor-trailer loaded with marijuana through the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint. Upon inspection, CBP agents found more than 11,500 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated value of more than $9.4 million, hidden within a load of cottonseed. Additional seizures pushed the total estimated value of marijuana confiscated to more than $22.4 million.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that on July 26, 2011 just days before a federal quarantine order placed restrictions on imports of rice from countries with Khapra beetle infestations on July 30, Baltimore CBP agriculture specialists discovered dead Khapra beetles in Pakistan rice. The entire shipment was secured and will be re-exported. CBP targeted this shipment based upon previous rice imports from Pakistan and other infested areas.

In the August 3, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 32), CBP published one notice that proposes to revoke a “treatment” that involves the use of “average price” to value cut flowers imported under consignment that were eligible for duty-free treatment under the ATPA.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its July 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner Update, which contains information on the new features and edits of the next ACE release, e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1), which is expected to be deployed in pilot form in September.