CBP will do an inspection when it encounters containers with seals that appear to be tampered with, said the CBP San Francisco field office in an information notice. CBP may also pursue penalty action against the responsible parties for missing and incorrect seal information and for manifest discrepancy, it said. Maritime containers in transit to the U.S. by vessel are required to be sealed with the seal meeting the ISO/PAS 17712 standard.
CBP’s Port of Seattle announced a free Steel Identification, Classification and Trade Law seminar Nov. 7-8 at the Henry Jackson Federal Building in Seattle. The seminar will be presented by technical, commercial and legal experts in the steel industry and will “enhance the knowledge level of steel importations” for CBP officials, other U.S. government officials and customhouse brokers. CBP encourages participants to register early due to limited space, via e-mail at lrmosser@windstream.net or via fax by 9 a.m. Oct. 14.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the Commerce Department posted to CBP's website Sept. 23, 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 addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
An illegally imported shipment of 42 pieces of coral was donated June 25 to the National Aquarium, Baltimore, to be used as educational tools in the Blacktip Reef exhibit and for conservation outreach efforts, school science programs and fabrication templates, CBP said. CBP said the corals were cut from reefs off the coast of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, and seized at the Port of Tampa in March 2012 for violation of the Endangered Species Act. According to CBP, such coral reefs are usually protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and require foreign CITES permits.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Sept. 23. 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.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 23 with 193 rulings, bringing the total number of searchable rulings to 179,099. The most recent ruling is dated 09/19/2013.
CBP opened registration for its East Coast Trade Symposium scheduled for Oct. 24-25, the agency said in a CSMS message. Registration is available (here). Session topics include Centers of Excellence and Expertise and the coming pilot program combining trusted trader programs, according to a recently released agenda (see 13091911).
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 Sept. 19, 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 addcvd.cbp.gov. (CBP occasionally adds backdated messages without otherwise indicating which message was added. ITT will include a message date in parentheses in such cases.)
Drawback claims made on goods exported to Chile after January 1, 2012 are subject to U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement special treatment as described in 19 U.S.C. 1313(j)(4)(B) and 1313(n), said CBP in a CSMS message. U.S. duty drawback on exportations to Chile started being phased out January 1, 2012, for the following types of drawback: