Tim Warren

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

CBP will begin expanding the pilot project to have export ocean manifests filed via e-mail into the Document Imaging System (DIS) in place of the physical paper document being presented at the port, Customs said in a Aug. 21 CSMS message. The paper manifest for those pilot participants will be submitted via a readable PDF attachment to an e-mail. The initial phase of the pilot began in the Atlanta field office and includes the ports of Norfolk, Newport News, Wilmington, Beaufort, Morehead City, Georgetown, Charleston, Savannah and Brunswick. The full CBP notice is (here).

In the Aug. 22 issue of the CBP Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 35), CBP published a notice that proposes to revoke and modify rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of work footwear.

The U.S. Postal Service will require that customs data be electronically transmitted for international mail bearing a customs declaration form when the items are paid with a permit imprint, it said in a notice scheduled to run in the Federal Register Aug. 23. Comments on the change are due Sept. 24.

In the Aug. 22 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin (Vol. 46, No. 34), CBP published two notices that propose to revoke two rulings and similar treatment regarding the tariff classification of hole saw kits and automobile heater assemblies.

A federal jury found Manuel Eduardo Pena, a CBP officer, guilty of two counts of making a false statement in a firearms record and one count of making a false statement to a federal agency, said the Justice Department in a press release. Pena has been a CBP officer for 12 years and the charges are unrelated to his official duties. U.S. District Court Judge Hilda Tagle, who presided over the trial, has set sentencing for Nov. 19, at which time Pena faces up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine on each count of conviction. Previously released on bond, Pena was allowed to remain on bond pending sentencing.

CBP is looking for volunteer importers and their filers to participate in an upcoming pilot that will combine the Simplified Entry (SE) filing with selected data elements from the Participating Government Agency (PGA) Message Set, the agency said in a CSMS message Aug. 21. The focus will be cut flowers imported by air through the Miami Airport.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) met with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key to pursue export opportunities for American businesses and discuss negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement, said Baucus' office in a press release. “Our economy will grow, and American businesses will create jobs as we strengthen our trade ties with countries like New Zealand," he said. "The Asia Pacific region is a hotbed of economic growth, and we need to ensure the United States benefits from that growth and remains a key player in the arena. New Zealand is a key partner in the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- one we need to help break down barriers to trade and support a strong agreement.”

CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Aug. 20. 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 issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues: