CBP and the General Services Administration completed the expansion of the Santa Teresa, N.M. land port on May 29, CBP said in a press release. After nearly two years, the $11.1 million expansion includes double the number of primary vehicle inspections lanes, an additional cargo lane, expanded passenger and commercial vehicle queuing, a pedestrian sidewalk, and improved security, said CBP in a press release. The project also included energy-saving measures like insulated glass in order to reduce energy and water consumption. David Higgerson, acting CBP director of Field Operations in El Paso, Texas, said these additions “will help CBP efficiently and thoroughly process the growing traffic at this important crossing.”
Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) software vendors provided some insight on the use of ACE products and best methods for communicating with CBP in a recent survey conducted and released by the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations Trade Modernization Subcommittee. Among challenges cited by vendors in making the change to ACE, 48 percent of respondents listed customer interest while 43 percent named budget as an issue.
CBP intends to distribute assessed antidumping or countervailing duties for fiscal year 2013 under Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000 (CDSOA), it said in a notice. Certifications to obtain a continued dumping and subsidy offset under a particular AD/CV order or finding must be received by July 30.
On May 21, CBP issued a final determination that set the U.S. as the country of origin for multifunctional digital imaging printers by Ricoh Electronics. The three different MFP models are manufactured from imported components and subassemblies from multiple countries including China and the Philippines. However, these subassemblies form incomplete and non-functional printer engines, and do not require sophisticated skills or expensive machinery. In comparison, Ricoh said development of the Controller unit, or electronic “brain”, is “extremely complex” and requires highly skilled labor to perform inspections and testing. After the Controller unit is assembled in the U.S., it is incorporated with the incomplete printer engines and the final product undergoes inspection at Ricoh’s Tustin, Calif., factory.
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages from the International Trade Administration posted to CBP's website May 28, 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.)
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of May 28. 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.
Personnel from the FDA New York District Office will no longer be stationed at Building 77 of JFK International Airport in Jamaica, N.Y., starting June 17, said CBP in a CSMS message. Instead, a mail slot identified for FDA will be made available for the submission of paper entry documents, which have declined in volume over the last several months due to the ITACS system. Documents will be picked up daily from Monday to Friday at noon, excluding holidays.
CBP posted a May 28 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
CBP officers at the El Paso, Texas Port of Entry discovered and seized 895 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated street value of $716,000, from a tractor trailer at the Ysleta commercial crossing from Mexico on May 22, said CBP in a press release. CBP found the drugs among 14 sacks of marble powder calcium carbonate while examining the vehicle and scanning it with an X-ray system, which identified “a number of anomalies in the shipment,” the agency said. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have yet been made, said CBP.
CBP issued a notice of final determination on May 21 for the country of origin of Ricoh Aficio Monochrome Laser Printers for purposes of procurement by the U.S. government under Federal Acquisition Regulations. CBP said it reached this final determination based on presented facts, which indicated that the monochrome laser printers were assembled from parts made in China, Japan, and the Philippines, but was assembled and substantially transformed in the U.S. The manufacture of individual parts (subassemblies), such as the duplex unit and engine board, took place in other countries during initial stages of the production process. However, these basic subassemblies only resulted in an “incomplete and non-functional printer engine” and did not require “sophisticated skills or expensive machinery.”