CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Feb. 3. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
On Feb. 4, the following trade-related bills and resolutions were introduced:
CBP posted a Feb. 4 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Feb. 4. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
CBP's Port of Seattle issued a Trade Information Notice soliciting applications to operate a Centralized Examination Station (CES) for the Seattle and Tacoma ports. The solicitation period began Feb. 4 and expires April 4. Public comments are also invited. Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of TIN No. 13-03.
The CBP Regulations and Ruling Division within the Office of International Trade will move office space to 90 K Street, NE, Washington, DC 20229, said CBP. All correspondence for the division , including mailed comments regarding section 1625 modifications or revocations, should be sent to the new address as of Feb. 6, said CBP. The phone number will remain the same, the agency said.
Trade associations focused on customs and other importer issues spent relatively little in Q4 of 2012, according to public lobbying records. Several groups that are heavily involved in policy-making for customs issues don't spend nearly as much as some of the major companies that are involved in the issues, the records show. For instance, the American Association for Exporters and Importers (AAEI) and the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) combined spent less than $10,000 for lobbying in Q4, the records show. Lobbying toward improved enforcement for antidumping/countervailing duties (AD/CVD) was among the issues that gained in attention, the filings show.
CBP provided some advice in a CSMS message to air carriers for transferring cargo to a foreign trade zone (FTZ). When cargo is "transferred by the Air Carrier to a DeconsolidatorCFS destined to a [FTZ], the DeconsolidatorCFS must arrive the local transfer from the Air Carrier at the Master Bill Level," said CBP. "The arrival must be transmitted prior to the Electronic Permit To Transfer (EPTT) requested by the [FTZ]. Failure to arrive the local transfer at the Master Bill Level will result in the routing of the local transfer authorization (1F) message for the EPTT requested by the [FTZ] to the Air Carrier and not the DeconsolidatorCFS."
CBP said the Office of International Trade's Regulatory Audit division moved offices and filers of the annual election to average for motor vehicles should send the forms to the new address. The new address for the Regulatory Audit division is 1717 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20229.