U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that it is aware of a temporary disconnect between an ABI entry’s paperless release and its associated AMS bill that occurred 00:00 to 01:00 EST on the mornings of January 19th, 25th, 26th, and 27th. In the first hour on those days, entries which received a Paperless Release selectivity result transmission (RR) did not trigger a release posting in AMS (e.g., a ‘1C’ posting). CBP has manually posted the 1C release for the shipments. The carrier and terminal operators will see the 1C posted from the HQ port code (9900).

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 1, 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 an updated list of non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC) participants in the sea Automated Manifest System (AMS).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection 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.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of January 30, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued 2011 import statistics on cut flower imports during the Valentine Season, which shows imports grew 150% in 2011, when compared to the 2010 season. The majority of imported cut flowers are from Colombia (63%), followed by Ecuador (23%). Miami ranks first among U.S. ports for these imports, followed by Los Angeles. See notice for information on total imports and imports by port and country, as well as number of pest interceptions. The "Top 10" exporting countries, U.S. ports of entry, U.S. ports where plant pests are intercepted, type of flower imported, etc. are also provided. (Press release posted 02/01/12)

The Office of International Trade (OT) of U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its first Textile and Quota newsletter to both CBP and the trade. The first newsletter provides explanations of (1) Raw Cane Sugar Certificates of Quota Eligibility (CQE) issued to foreign country certifying authorities (2) Tariff Preference Levels (TPLs), (3) first-come-first served quotas, (4) tariff rate quotas (TRQs), and (5) how "opening moment" prorations are determined. The newsletter also has articles on (i) 'next steps' for the Korea, Panama, and Colombia free trade agreements (FTAs), (ii) the set of DR-CAFTA textile rule fixes waiting for Congressional approval (sewing thread, short supply and certain tariff shift rules), and (iii) a table of existing trade agreements that indicates the year they began, their General Note (GN) or HTS Chapter 98 designation, and their Special Program Indicator (SPI).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has re-posted a notice to its website regarding its 2001 announcement that it would no longer be providing importers with free reports of entry summaries that have been flagged for reconciliation and would instead provide such reports on a fee-for-service basis only. CBP also posted this information in June 2011 and has reposted it again without change.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an updated Directory (dated January 30, 2012) for its Revenue Division, which is part of its National Finance Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Among other things, the Continuous Bond program is centralized in the Revenue Division. It also handles harbor maintenance fees (HMF); fines, penalties and forfeiture (FP&F); supplemental tariff bills, miscellaneous bills, and tariff debts; liquidated damages case initiation; ACE periodic payments and ACH debit/credit; among other responsibilities. The directory lists the offices within the division, the CBP staff members in each office, and their phone numbers.