U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued notices stating that it has approved the following companies to gauge petroleum and petroleum products, organic chemicals, and vegetable oils for customs purposes, in accordance with 19 CFR 151.13, on the listed effective date (see notice for the date of the next triennial inspection):

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the weekly foreign currency exchange rate multipliers for the week ending January 20, 2012.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the Miami International Airport has issued an Information Bulletin announcing that a CBP trade seminar will be presented on February 2, 2012 at the cargo Clearance Center in Miami, Florida. The Seminar will address consignment entries and invoice requirements, basis of appraisement/valuation, and reconciliation. According to the Bulletin, one of the most significant effects of the Customs Modernization Act is the establishment of the clear requirement that parties exercise reasonable due care in importing into the U.S. Section 484 of the Tariff Act, as amended, requires an importer of record using reasonable care to make entry by filing such information as is necessary to enable CBP to properly assess duties, collect accurate statistics, and determine whether any other applicable requirement of law is met. Information Bulletin Number 12-020 is available via email by sending a request to documents@brokerpower.com.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection for Field Operations at the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport has issued a Public Bulletin announcing that it will present a January 27, 2012 seminar to provide guidance on the proper marking and attachment of orange blaze tips required on airsoft guns and other imitation and look-alike firearms. According to the Bulletin, numerous issues have arisen with regard to the proper marking required on such imports. The Port will be presenting this seminar in order to clarify and resolve these issues and provide clear guidance for the importing community on appropriate markings and how such markings are tested to ensure compliance. Reservations are required by January 26, 2012 to attend this seminar. Contact George Sebastian at (562) 366-5700. Public Bulletin LA12-002 is available via email by sending a request to documents@brokerpower.com.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the following links to online resources on wood packaging material (WPM):

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that because of inclement weather and the inability of all trade entities to conduct normal business operations in the greater Seattle area, the Seattle Area Port has authorized January 18 and 19, 2012 as snow days for filers. The following ports are covered by this designation: 3001 Seattle; 3002 Tacoma; 3003 Aberdeen, 3006 Everett, 3007 Port Angeles, 3008 Port Townsend, 3022 Spokane, and 3029 SeaTac International Airport. Please contact 206-553-1720 if you have any questions.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the change record for the CATAIR chapter on the ACE PGA Message Set, which lists the following changes:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted information on the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) User Requirements provided in the Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) documentation. The CATAIR provides complete information describing how importers and/or their agents can become ABI participants, as well as how they can provide electronic import information to ABI, and receive transmissions from ABI once they have become a participant.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection for field operations at the Port of New York/Newark has issued an Informational Pipeline to inform the trade community of some logistical issues it has encountered since the commencement of the consolidated Centralized Examination Station (CES) process on January 9, 2012. The Pipeline states that incorrect bill of lading (BOL) transmissions have caused cargo for examination to be sent to erroneous Centralized Examination Station (CES) sites.

The Port of Long Beach has reached a tentative agreement on a 40-year, $4.6 billion lease with the Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) and its U.S. subsidiaries OOCL, LLC and Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) for the Middle Harbor property. POLB states that this would be the largest deal of its kind for any U.S. seaport and is projected to generate more than 14,000 new, permanent jobs throughout Southern California by 2020.