Tim Warren

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:

CBP rescheduled its annual East Coast Trade Symposium for Nov. 27-28, the agency said. CBP postponed the symposium, previously scheduled for Oct. 28-29, due to Hurricane Sandy.

CBP said it made the necessary system changes and the trade can now file Panama Trade Promotion Agreement claims in ACE or ACS. The tariff changes associated with the Panama agreement are scheduled to be posted Nov. 6 or Nov. 7, said CBP in a CSMS message.

The National Customs Broker and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) released a new paper meant to serve "as the starting point for a continuous review of the role the licensed customs broker plays now and into the future." The paper, released Nov. 2, describes the roles currently played by customs brokers. CBP is in the process of reviewing and rewriting a number of broker regulations in CFR 19 Part 111. "Our hope is that this document serves not only to provide an historical perspective but also to provide guidance as to where we see the industry headed," said NCBFAA. "Of course, events over which we have no control may dictate changes but, absent any benchmark, we would have no idea how far we have come."

CBP is requesting comments by Jan. 7 for an existing information collection administrative ruling. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or to the information collected. The notice was in the Federal Register Nov. 6.

CBP corrected the quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment under the regional fabric provision of the Andean Trade Preference Act, it said in an Oct. 31 memo. A previous CBP memo incorrectly listed the quantity of imports eligible for preferential treatment to be 1,341,030,128 articles. The actual amount is 1,239,899,947. The memo follows a recent Federal Register correction from the Commerce Department's Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements.

CBP released a guidance regarding reimported Burmese and non-Burmese articles covered by the Burma JADE Act of 2008. Burmese covered and non-Burmese covered articles that were previously exported from the U.S. -- including those that accompanied an individual outside the U.S. for personal use -- are allowed to be re-imported into the U.S. by the same person without having been advanced in value or improved in condition by any process or other means while outside the U.S. CBP advises those temporarily exporting such items from the U.S. to register the articles prior to export.

CBP said the second tranche for the fiscal year 2012 specialty sugar tariff rate quota (TRQ) that opened Oct. 26 wasn't oversubscribed at opening moment. All entries on hold have been processed and released, said CBP

CBP issued a guidance on removing a remote location filing (RLF) entry from an ABI statement. RLF regulations require that the broker or importer direct the payment of RLF transactions using the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) or other electronic payment authorized by CBP.

CBP granted a “snow day” to all who file entries at the Ports of JFK and New York/Newark for Nov. 1, said CBP New York in an informational pipeline message. "This request is being granted due to the business resumption needs of the brokerage and importing communities and the unique circumstances created by Hurricane Sandy," the pipeline said. "As a result of this situation, we are extending one (1) additional day without penalty for any late filed entry summaries and payments of duties that were due on Thursday, November 1, 2012, in the Ports of JFK and New York/Newark." According to the message, CBP hadn't yet made a decision on allowing for a snow day on Nov. 2.