U.S. Customs and Border Inspection recently posted a revised version of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) 101 "Topic" document, which provides a useful general overview of ACE, including the ACE Secure Data Portal, account management capabilities, report capabilities, revenue capabilities, cargo control and release, and entry summary processing. The document also discusses future ACE features.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the weekly foreign currency exchange rate multipliers for the week ending September 23, 2011.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is inviting public comments by October 24, 2011 on the draft Environmental Assessment that is required pursuant to CEQ regulations on its plans to maintain and repair certain existing Tactical Infrastructure (TI) along the U.S./Mexico international border in the state of Arizona.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that a Chantilly, Va., woman, Chun-yu Zhao, recently received a 60-month prison sentence and heavy financial penalties for conspiring to import counterfeit computer networking equipment. CBP’s National Targeting and Analysis Group (NTAG) in California pieced together common elements in hundreds of unrelated shipments that ultimately identified the Zhao operation.

A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to CBP's Web site as of September 23, 2011, 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 agriculture specialists working at the El Paso port of entry have discovered wood borer beetles and larvae in wooden pallets while inspecting commercial shipments that arrived from Mexico. All three shipments were refused entry and returned to Mexico for proper treatment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists working at the Bush Intercontinental air cargo facility discovered a shipment containing imported fresh flowers with the plant disease called Stigmina among the flowers, leaves and stems. Earlier in September, CBP agriculture specialists discovered a stinkbug nestled and feeding on Sage herbs. The shipments of flowers and herbs were destroyed. Neither of these interceptions had ever been reported at the cargo facility.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a memorandum announcing the opening of the fiscal year 2012 tariff rate quota for blended syrups, as provided for in Harmonized Tariff System Chapter 17, Additional U.S. Note 9. This TRQ opens on October 3, 2011 and the TRQ level is zero. Such blended syrups must be entered at the over-quota (high) rate using the appropriate over-quota HTS number.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a memorandum announcing the opening of the fiscal year 2012 tariff rate quota on mixes and doughs, as provided for in Harmonized Tariff Schedule Chapter 19, Additional U.S. Note 3. This TRQ opens on October 3, 2011 and the TRQ level for all countries except Mexico is 5,398,000 kg.

CBP has issued a September 2011 version of its informed compliance publication entitled “What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: The Classification of Fibers and Yarns under the HTSUS." According to CBP, the ICP was reviewed in September with no changes.