CBP Administrative Messages, Web Postings, Etc.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that the interface between CBP's Automated Commercial System (ACS) and the FDA's Operational and Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS) was going to be down between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on Monday, March 19, 2007, for scheduled maintenance. FDA states that during this downtime ACS, OASIS, and the Prior Notice System Interface (PNSI) will all be operational, but the interface downtime would prevent submitters who filed via ABI from receiving prior notice (PN) confirmation and would prevent CBP from auto-checking the PN confirmation for ABI filers.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
1. FDA Announces Downtime for ACS/OASIS Interface on Morning of March 19, 2007
(In this message, FDA provide some alternatives for ABI filers if PN has not already been submitted, including waiting out the downtime and submitting PN via PNSI.)
If PN has already been submitted via ABI/ACS prior to the interface outage, and confirmation has already been received, the submitter may proceed with PN using the standard process. If PN has already been submitted via ABI/ACS and confirmation has not been received prior to the interface outage, FDA and CBP recommend that, rather than resubmitting via PNSI, submitters should provide to CBP officers, at the time of cargo release, an endorsed (signed) copy of the ABI transmission or some other evidence adequate to show that PN has been submitted via ABI/ACS.
CBP states that it will queue all PN submitted data from ACS during the scheduled maintenance. Upon restoration of the interface, CBP will release all the queued data to FDA and FDA intends to provide notice. (Adm: 07-0067, dated 03/16/07, available at http://www.brokerpower.com/cgi-bin/adminsearch/admmsg.view.pl?article=2007/2007-0067.ADM.)
2. Interrupted Phone Service at FDA's Prior Notice Center on March 17, 2007
FDA has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that its Prior Notice (PN) Center was to have intermittent phone service as part of a scheduled maintenance between the hours of 12:00 a.m. EDT and 2:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday, March 17, 2007. During that time, FDA states that the PN Center was going to have limited phone usage and callers may experience delays. FDA states that full service at the PN Center was to resume after 2:00 a.m. EDT. (Adm: 07-0066, dated 03/16/07, available at http://www.brokerpower.com/cgi-bin/adminsearch/admmsg.view.pl?article=2007/2007-0066.ADM.)
3. March 15 Opening of 180-Day Special Import Quota for Upland Cotton (Announcement Number 37)
CBP has posted to its Web site a notice announcing a "weekly" special import quota of 21,253,330 kg for upland cotton purchased not later than June 12, 2007 and entered under HTS 9903.52.37. The quota period is March 15, 2007 through September 10, 2007; the opening date is March 15, 2007.
According to CBP, the use of the "special import quota" is at the importer's option and the tariff rate-quota (TRQ) quantity is not subject to the TRQs in HTS Chapter 52 Additional U.S. Notes (AUSNs) 5 through 10. CBP has previously stated that these 180-day quotas are established pursuant to a 1991 Presidential Proclamation, are "triggered" by high C.I.F Northern European cotton prices, and are provided for in HTS Chapter 99, Subchapter III, U.S. Note 6. (See notice for special instructions concerning the requirement for an original foreign government certificate and a certification by the importer.) (QBT-07-520, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/qbt2007/07_520.ctt/07_520.doc)
4. Miscellaneous CBP Messages on AD and CV Duty Actions
The antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) messages CBP issues on behalf of the International Trade Administration (ITA) are now only available on CBP's Web site at http://addcvd.cbp.gov . AD and CV ABI administrative messages are no longer issued.
An overview of a number of recent AD/CV messages posted to CBP's Web site, along with the case number(s), period covered, and CBP message number, are provided below. (Note that the complete message is only available at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.)