CBP Miami on Aug. 12 sent out an information bulletin reminding importers and their agents of their responsibilities when importing fruits and vegetables. The notice reiterated that a copy of the relevant Department of Agriculture permit is required with each shipment. Unless a USDA transit permit was issued, the importer must be disclosed and made available for inspection the port of first arrival in a manner designated by the CBP agriculture specialist. A notice of arrival must be provided to the agriculture specialist that includes the name and address of the consignee, as well as the type, quantity and origin of all fruits and vegetables in the consignment, said CBP Miami.
Just because a pointy rod appears to be a drill bit doesn’t mean it should be classified as one, said CBP in a ruling issued in May that overturned the port’s classification of “high speed steel drill blanks” imported by MC Tubular Products. CBP Minneapolis had originally classified the pointed steel rods intended for making drill bits as finished drill bits under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8207. But noting that the point of the rod is only a chamfer that is completely ground off before the drill bit’s actual point is applied, CBP ruled that the steel rods are not “blanks” classifiable in their intended final form as drill bits, but are instead bars and rods of high speed steel classifiable in heading 7228.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 11, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.
A technical issue in the Automated Commercial Environment affected entry summary processing on Aug. 12 from about 12:50 a.m. until 1:50 a.m., said CBP. Filers who submitted an ACE entry summary (AE) to ACE production during this time and did not receive an AX response should resubmit the AE to ACE, it said.
CBP is extending the comment period until Sept. 12 for an existing information collection on the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) regulations. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with a change to the burden hours. The estimated number of responses was lowered from 3,000 to 2,400.
CBP Los Angeles/Long Beach will hold a trade forum on Aug. 27 at 9:30 a.m. to discuss entry and broker compliance procedures at the Port of LA/LB. The program will cover broker licensing, the role of the broker, broker visits, and best practices for cancellation requests, TIBs and resolution requests. The presentation will be held at the Port of Los Angeles Administrative Building at 425 Palos Verdes Street in San Pedro, California. Reservations are required, and will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis until a maximum of 120 attendees is reached. To register, call George Sebastian at (562) 366-3825. Questions should be directed to Acting Entry Branch Chief Vera Warren at (562) 366-5406.
CBP New York/Newark released statistics in a pipeline notice showing the "cycle time measurement" of Centralized Examination Stations from April through June. The cycle times refer to the time from ocean container arrival, as transmitted via the Automated Commercial Environment, through final examination completion release date.
CBP recently issued a Partner Government Agency (PGA) Message Set manual for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The manual includes CATAIR codes to be used by importers of motor vehicles and parts for submitting the required HS-7 declaration in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Automated Broker Interface (ABI).
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Aug. 8, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at http://adcvd.cbp.dhs.gov/adcvdweb.