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.
CBP hopes a close relationship with trade through a trade intelligence industry liaison will allow the agency to stay current on business trends and improve processing at the Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs), said John Leonard, acting executive director for trade policy and programs at CBP. Leonard spoke as part of several recent forums on Trade Intelligence, said a CBP press release.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Sept. 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.
New lobbyist registrations on trade issues include:
CBP issued a CSMS message to remind those filing ACE ABI In-Bond transactions that they must nominate themselves as a secondary notify party in the transaction. If the carrier has not nominated the filer, a failure to nominate oneself will mean the filer will not receive any of the subsequent status notifications related to the in-bond filing, said CBP.
CBP is requesting comments by Nov. 26 for an existing information collection on foreign assembler declarations with endorsement by the importer. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with a change to the burden hours but not the information collected, it said in a notice scheduled to run in the Federal Register Sept. 26.
CBP updated its guidance on interim filing options for merchandise transported via pipelines to say "non-NAFTA qualifying merchandise transported via pipeline is now eligible to be entered on a monthly basis using RLF." CBP previously only allowed for non-NAFTA RLF filing on a daily basis. NAFTA qualifying merchandise is still eligible for monthly RLF entry.
CBP Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar worked with with the Border Interagency Executive Council in developing a “one U.S. government” approach to partnerships with the trade, said a CBP press release. The council is made up of senior executives from 10 U.S. federal agencies and collaborates on issues including the federal government's efforts to transform the trade process, ongoing efforts across federal agencies to partner with the trade, and the use of automation to streamline the international trade clearance process, said CBP.
CBP opened the Petroleum, Natural Gas and Minerals Center of Excellence and Expertise CEE in Houston Sept. 17, it said in a Sept. 24 press release. The CEE has started centralized processing for all trusted partners in the industry, "providing uniformity for trusted importers," said CBP.
The Senate gave its approve to a Continuing Resolution, a temporary funding measure, to prevent a government shutdown and fund federal programs until March 27, 2013 (H.J.Res 117). Among other things, the bill would pay for "operations necessary to maintain the staffing levels (including by backfilling vacant positions) of Border Patrol agents, Customs and Border Protection officers, and Air and Marine interdiction agents in effect at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012." The resolution still needs approval from President Barack Obama.