According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, the delayed "limited deployment" testing of M1 (ocean and rail e-manifest) user screens by CBP officers at the ports of Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; and Brownsville, TX is now scheduled to begin on December 5, 2011. This pilot test will allow CBP to assess the use of the ACE M1 system by its officers and early adopters in the trade.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to CBP's Web site as of December 2, 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 has issued a CSMS Message (#11-000296) providing a Spanish version of its November 2011 Trade Account Owner (TAO) Update. The English version of the TAO Update is available here. See ITT's Online Archives 11113013 for summary.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources have informed Broker Power that the pass rate for the October 2011 customs broker license exam was 25%. There were no problem questions.
In the November 30, 2011 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 45, No. 49), CBP published two notices that propose to modify one ruling and revoke two rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of play paper money and porcelain travel coffee cups.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message announcing that on November 18, 2011, the ACE CATAIR Importer/Consignee Create/Update Chapter was updated to clarify the submission of foreign postal codes in the Importer/Consignee Create/Update (TI) transaction. The updated CATAIR Chapter is available here. The 2011 CATAIR Change Record is available here.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that with the Christmas holiday approaching, its agriculture specialists working at U.S. ports of entry are making sure that imported Christmas trees, branches, or wreaths are free from insects and pests that could harm trees in the U.S.' national forests and neighborhood backyards. CBP provides the following advice to those importing such goods:
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 posted documents providing an update on the Integrated Fixed Towers (ITF) Program, which CBP states will assist Border Patrol agents in detecting, tracking, identifying, classifying items of interest along U.S. borders through a series of fixed sensor towers and command and control center equipment. CBP is focused on acquiring surveillance equipment, power generation and communications equipment, command and control center equipment, etc. With these documents, CBP is providing information and notifying industry of its plan to release a draft Request for Proposal (RFP) in early December 2011 to solicit industry feedback and to release a final RFP in January/February 2012. The documents are available here and here.
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.