U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the contact information for the following nine press officers in California:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a user guide on running Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) reports for rail and sea carriers. The guide provides information on basic functionality of the ACE Reports Tool and outlines detailed instructions on how to access available reports. Instructions address how to view standard reports, how to modify data fields within standard reports, and how to build fully customized reports from a blank slate. Additional documents on the ACE e-Manifest: Rail and Sea are available here.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final rule, effective December 2, 2011, to amend CBP regulations to reflect an extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological material from Bolivia. These restrictions, which were originally imposed by Treasury Decision 01-86 and last extended by CBP Decision 06-26, are due to expire on December 4, 2011. However, conditions continue to warrant the imposition of import restrictions. Accordingly, CBP regulations are being amended to reflect an extension of the import restrictions for an additional five years, through December 4, 2016.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a final rule, effective December 1, 2011, to amend CBP regulations to reflect the imposition of import restrictions on certain archaeological and ethnological material from Greece. These restrictions are being imposed in accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The final rule adds Greece to the list of countries for which a bilateral agreement has been entered into for imposing cultural property import restrictions. It also contains the designated list that describes the types of archaeological and ethnological articles to which the restrictions apply.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the interest rates for the first quarter of calendar year 2012 (January 1 -- March 31, 2012) for overpayments and underpayments of Customs duties are as follows:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's November 30, 2011 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 49) contains 10 notices of ruling actions:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have issued the following news releases:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of November 28, 2011.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that in a recent report, the Government Accountability Office cited CBP's expansion and upgrade of radio frequency ID, or RFID, technology at ports of entry around the country as an example of "good management and delivery" in federal information technology. The systems, which allow certain identification documents to be read electronically from a distance, have enhanced both efficiency and security, leading to the GAO's designation of the program as a best practice across the federal government.

On November 29, 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued its November 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) Update. The TAO provides information on a number of ACE and general trade developments, including the AM-100 report for importers (which replaced the mailed courtesy notices of liquidation), Post Summary Corrections, FMCSA status messages to ACE Truck e-Manifest filers, FAST cards, and Simplified Entry.