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 TRQ/TPL "threshold to fill" list, a quick reference to monitor TRQs and TPLs that are approaching their restraint limit or have filled their in-quota (low) rate. The list is divided into two sections: those that are at least 85% filled and those that are filled.
CBP has issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of July 11, 2011. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs; etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics; etc.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers seized a shipment of opium concealed within plastic gears coming from Turkey. On July 1, 2011, CBP officers at the Cincinnati DHL hub facility examined a shipment invoiced as “yarn machine parts” which contained eight small black plastic gear cylinders. An x-ray image revealed anomalies and further inspection found that the cylinders were filled with a black tar-like substance that tested positive for opium. The shipment weighed more than 13 pounds and was addressed to a location in Canada.
The Port of Los Angeles has issued a Public Bulletin informing the trade community that Todd Owen has been appointed Director of Field Operations for Los Angeles, effective July 3, 2011. As DFO, Owen will oversee all CBP port operations with the LA Field Office, which includes the Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties in California, and Clark County in Nevada. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/08/11 news, 11030821, for BP summary announcing that Owen would become the new DFO.)
In the July 6, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 28), CBP issued a notice announcing its receipt of a "Lever-Rule" application from Liberty Gold Food Co., Inc. for the federally registered and recorded “Ligo” trademark.
CBP has issued the following news releases:
CBP has posted a summary of changes to the Automated Export System Trade Interface Requirements (AESTIR) that were effective July 1, 2011. The following changes were made:
On June 13, 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 261,000 cigarette lighters, valued at approximately $135,000, for missing the required child-safety mechanism. This seizure was part of a multi-agency national operation initiated by CBP's Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC). In March 2011, CBP officers, in partnership with the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s compliance investigator, examined a targeted shipment of cigarette lighters from France. CPSC evaluated a sample of the shipment and later determined it to be in violation of the Safety Standard for Cigarette Lighters requiring cigarette lighters to be fitted with a child-resistant mechanism in order to protect children from injury. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/10/11 news, 11051034, for BP summary of the CPSC providing links to all of its mandatory product safety standards, including the safety standard for cigarette lighters.)
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.