A link included in a recent CSMS message on retroactive merchandise processing fee (MPF) billing was sent out by mistake, said CBP in a June 20 CSMS message (12-000229). The June 15 message (12-000217) provided links to intranet pages that are not available to the public and was intended to assist field processing, said CBP. The message, which said CBP will begin retroactive billing for merchandise entered between October 1 and November 4, 2011, with the increased MPF, will be deleted, said CBP.
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 said new instructions for completing the CBP Form 301 (Customs Bond) and 301A (Addendum to 301) were posted (here). The new instructions are at the end of Form 301.
CBP set a target of September for getting the next two Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) operational, said Tom Overacker, project manager of the CEEs at CBP, speaking at the Import Compliance and Enforcement Conference in Washington June 21. Overacker said CBP will seek volunteers for the CEEs “soon” in a Federal Register notice.
CBP is hoping to hold its annual Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) Security Conference near the end of September, said Carlos Ochoa, supervisory program manager of C-TPAT at CBP. Ochoa spoke at the Import Compliance and Enforcement conference June 20. The conference requires approval from the Department of Homeland Security for the first time this year and that approval was still pending, he said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of June 18.
CBP released updated annual CDSOA (Byrd Amendment) disbursement reports reflecting what CBP has determined to be the proper allocation calculations as of June 2012:
CBP hopes to begin inviting trade members to participate in the first pilot of the Participating Government Agency (PGA) this fall with the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), said Susan Dyszel, International Trade Data System (ITDS) Team Lead at CBP. Dyszel was speaking at the Import Compliance and Enforcement conference in Washington June 20.
CBP said the ACE Certification environment may be unavailable from 6 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. June 20. EDI transactions submitted during this time will be queued and processed when the system comes back up.
CBP posted a June update on its progress with various ACE capabilities and other projects, such as the Document Image System, PGA Message Set, e-Manifest: rail and Sea (M1), ACE Truck, Automated Export Processing etc.
A group of lawmakers said June 18 they reached a deal on the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, (S-3187), which reauthorizes for five years Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees for FDA drug review processes. The legislation would direct the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to work with CBP to develop "regulations to establish good importer practices that specify the measures an importer shall take to ensure imported drugs are in compliance with the requirements of this Act."