The sharing of client contact information, including names and address, for security verification purposes would be permissible in certain situations, said CBP in a Nov. 21 ruling. The ruling, HQ H221355, is in response to a ruling request from Alan Klestadt, a lawyer at Grunfeld, Desiderio. Klestadt, asked the agency to say whether the release of contact information to third parties for security verifications is allowed under current regulations.
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.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Dec. 24. 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.
The CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) scheduled an open teleconference Jan. 15 from 2-3 p.m., said a Federal Register notice. Registration is required by Jan. 11 (here).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP added numerous new capabilities to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) this year, including the ability for sureties to maintain their power of attorney using an ID number, the agency said in its ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) update for November and December. The TAO includes a list of features added to ACE this year.
CBP's Office of Information and Technology has posted an updated list of companies/persons offering ABI data processing services to the trade community.
CBP issued a final rule to create a border crossing for pedestrians in Big Bend National Park to be called Boquillas. The Boquillas border crossing would be a “Customs station” for customs purposes and a Class B port of entry for immigration purposes. The proposed rule would also update the description of a Class B port of entry to reflect current border crossing documentation requirements.
CBP will close the port of entry of Whitetail, Mont., said the agency in a Federal Register notice. CBP said the port of Whitetail is one of CBP's least trafficked ports, processing an average of less than four privately owned vehicles per day for the last four years. The facility was built in 1964 and has undergone little renovation since. After consideration of the low usage of the port, the locations of the alternative ports of entry, and the analysis of the net benefit of the port closure, including the cost of necessary renovations were the port to remain open, CBP is closing the port of entry, it said. The lists of CBP ports of entry at 8 CFR 100.4(a) and 19 CFR 101.3(b)(1) are being amended to reflect the change.
CBP is requesting comments by Feb. 25 for an existing information collection for free entry of unaccompanied articles. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or to the information collected.
The Senate passed the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act Dec. 21, which, as expected, includes a provision that would reduce export restrictions on some satellites and their components. The bill will next go to the President for his signature. The NDAA conference report was approved 81-14 is (here). The provision is based on the Safeguarding United States Satellite Leadership and Security Act, S-3211, introduced by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)