U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a Federal Register notice stating that the first quarter 2012 (January 1 - March 31 ) Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties are: 2% for overpayments by corporations; 3% for overpayments by non-corporations; and 3% for underpayments. These rates are unchanged from the corresponding rates in effect for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2011.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted presentation slides on its "Trade Transformation" initiatives for 21st century trade. Within the slides, CBP states that it seeks to improve cargo security while increasing trade competitiveness by fully aggregating risk management. This will be accomplished by leveraging end-to-end visibility of accounts that captures a holistic view of the global supply chain. CBP also outlines how it will accomplish this through its BEST goals: (1) Better Targeting; (2) Expedite Trade; (4) Segment Risk; (5) and Transaction Savings and through its various trade initiatives. These initiatives include Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS), Importer Security Filing (ISF), Simplified Entry/summary, ACE, Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), and the role of the broker. CBP also maps out the supply chain for each mode of transportation and ACE.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted the weekly foreign currency exchange rate multipliers for the week ending January 13, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:
This summary report highlights the most active textile and apparel tariff preference levels1 from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s “Quota Weekly Commodity Status Report.” It also lists the TRQ commodities on CBP’s weekly “TRQ/TPL Threshold to Fill List.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued CSMS Message #12-000006 advising the trade that CBP is still investigating the ACE Portal slow response issue. CBP has contacted some trade users and had them back out Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8 security patch KB2585542. This action returned these users to normal processing. CBP will provide an additional update upon completion of its investigation.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has revised several documents posted on its website concerning the Industry Integration Centers for Pharmaceuticals and Electronics, in order to reflect their product scope. The center for Pharmaceuticals is now referred to as the Industry Integration Center for Pharmaceuticals, Health and Chemicals Center for Excellence and Expertise (CEE). The center for Electronics is now referred to as the Information Technology and Consumer Electronics CEE.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following news releases related to commercial trade and related issues:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection for Field Operations at the Port of New York/Newark has issued an Informational Pipeline providing updated information on the Centralized Exam Stations (CES) selected to perform examinations of seaport cargo. The Houston/Galveston Seaport has also provided an update notification on the CES locations servicing its port.