U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued CSMS message #12-000045 announcing that due to internal issues, CBP suspended sending out 3Z messages upon acceptance of unified manifest Importer Security Filing (ISF) messages. Those messages were once again turned back on this weekend. Any future instances of missing 3Z messages should be reported to your assigned Client Representative.

The Office of Management and Budget has approved a U.S. Customs and Border Protection final rule that would amend 19 CFR to provide that where an owner or master of a vessel documented under the laws of the United States fails to pay, within 30 days of CBP issuing the bill, the duties determined to be due that are associated with the purchase of equipment for, or repair to, the vessel while it is outside the United States, interest will accrue on the amounts owed to CBP and that person will be liable for interest.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a press release that quotes Acting Commissioner Aguilar as stating that "CBP is fully committed to facilitating and modernizing the trade process," and that CBP "can and will be a force for increased economic competitiveness for our nation." The press release also states that in the near future a notice of proposed rulemaking for the in-bond process will be published in the Federal Register.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a frequently asked questions and answers document to provide guidance to licensed Customs brokers on the submission of the Triennial Status Report and fee. The next triennial status report, in addition to a $100 fee, should be filed by February 29, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of February 13, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of February 9, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the weekly foreign currency exchange rate multipliers for the week ending February 10, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the following documents on its "What's New" webpage regarding the C-TPAT and FAST programs (note that many of these documents have prior dates and appear to simply be reposted):