CBP CSMS Messages and Web Postings

1. Harmonized System Update - Changes to the 2008 HTS

Amendments made to the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, regarding jadeite and rubies, effective September 27, 2008.

Changes required by the verification of the 2008 HTS (CBP will continue to verify the 2008 HTS for the remainder of the year).

CBP states that updated records are currently available to all ABI participants and can be retrieved electronically via the procedures outlined in the CATAIR.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/01/08 news, 08100115, for BP summary of Proclamation 8294, which amended the HTS to implement the prohibitions on certain jadeite and rubies mined or extracted from Burma and other countries, and jewelry containing these gems.)

(CSMS 08-000244, dated 09/30/08, available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/viewmssg.asp?Recid=17268&page=&srch_argv=08-000244&srchtype=all&btype=&sortby=&sby)

2. ATPDEA Regional TPL for October - December 2008 Opened October 1st

CBP has posted a notice announcing the opening of the tariff preference level (TPL) for apparel sewn or otherwise assembled in one or more Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) beneficiary countries from fabrics, fabric components formed, or components knit-to-shape from ATPDEA/U.S. yarns etc., that is eligible to receive duty-free treatment under the ATPDEA, as specified in HTS 9821.11.25.

This TPL opened on October 1, 2008 and is for the period of October 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008. The restraint level is 1,222,785,719 square meter equivalents. (See ITT's Online Archives or 09/30/08 news, 08093015, for previous BP summary on this TPL. See ITT's Online Archives or 10/02/08 news, 08100210, for BP summary of the USTR requesting comments on the proposed suspension of ATPA/ATPDEA for Bolivia.) (QBT-08-107, dated 09/26/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_programs/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/qbt2008/qbt_atpdea.ctt/qbt_atpdea.pdf)

3. FY 2009 Global Refined Sugar TRQ Opened October 1, 2008

CBP has posted a notice announcing the opening of the global tariff rate quota (TRQ) on refined sugar (including specialty sugar) as provided for in HTS Chapter 17, Additional U.S. Note 5 for fiscal year 2009.

According to CBP, this TRQ opened on October 1, 2008. The TRQ level is 7,090,000 kg (no certificate of quota eligibility (CQE) or specialty sugar certificate required), with an additional allocation of 10,300,000 kg for Canada (CQE required), and 2,954,000 kg for Mexico (CQE required).

CBP notes that there will be five successive openings for specialty sugar, available on a first-come, first-served basis, on October 23, 2008; November 10, 2008; January 14, 2009; May 19, 2009; and August 24, 2009.

CBP's notice lists the related HTS Chapters 17, 21, and 99 tariff numbers. In addition, the notice and CBP sources state that imports from Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Jordan, Morocco, Nicaragua, and Singapore are not subject to additional agricultural safeguard duties under HTS heading 9904. As a result, entries from these countries should be presented as a type 02 entry using the high rate (over-quota) tariff number provided for in HTS Chapters 17 or 21 without the HTS Chapter 99 tariff number. Such entries must be reported through the quota module of the Automated Commercial System (ACS).

(See ITT's Online Archives or 09/19/08 news, 08091920, for BP summary of the USTR's notice announcing this and other sugar TRQs.)

(QBT-08-534, dated 09/30/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_programs/textiles_and_quotas/qbts/qbt2008/qbt_08_534.ctt/qbt_08_534.pdf)

4. Updated TRQ/TPL "Threshold to Fill" List

CBP has posted an updated version of its TRQ/TPL "threshold to fill" list, a quick reference to monitor tariff rate quotas and tariff preference levels that are approaching the restraint limit or have filled the in-quota (low duty) rate. The list is divided into two sections - quotas that are at least 85% filled and quotas that are closed. (List, posted 10/02/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/trade_programs/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/trq_thresh_fill.ctt/trq_thresh_fill.pdf)

5. ACS Programmed for Leap Years to Avoid Duplicate Statement Numbers

CBP has issued a CSMS message stating that to avoid duplicate Daily Statement numbers from generating in a single fiscal year; ACS has been programmed so that when in a leap year, the system will use '999' instead of the actual Julian date on September 30th.

(Daily Statement numbers are made unique by their format upon generation by ACS. Daily Statement numbers are formatted to reflect the processing district (DD), the fiscal year (FY), the day's Julian date (JUL), and then the sequentially numbered statement per district (SEQ) (e.g. DDFYJULSEQ). In a leap year, the extra day causes the Julian date '274' to be used twice during a single fiscal year. In the past, this caused the Daily Statements generated on September 30th of a leap year to be duplicates of Daily Statements generated the previous year on October 1st.)

(CSMS 08-000238, dated 09/29/08, available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/viewmssg.asp?Recid=17262&page=&srch_argv=08-000238&srchtype=all&btype=&sortby=&sby)

6. Ad Hoc Report Telephone Training to Continue through October 8th

CBP has issued a notice stating that telephone training for ad hoc reporting capabilities for ACE reports will continue through October 8, 2008. Registration is required and only two phone lines per company, per training session, will be permitted. A training schedule has also been posted. (Notice, dated 09/29/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/automated/modernization/ace_welcome/ace_reports/adhoc_rpt.xml; Schedule, posted 09/29/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/trade/automated/modernization/ace_welcome/ace_reports/adhoc_telephone.ctt/adhoc_telephone.pdf)

7. CBP Launches New "PGA" ACE Ambassador Program

CBP has issued a notice announcing that it has launched a new ACE ambassador program to provide accurate, consistent, and timely information about ACE to Participating Government Agency (PGA) users and the trade community. (Notice, dated 09/29/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/automated/modernization/whats_new/ace_federal_awareness.xml)

8. ITDS Standard Data Set Documents Posted

CBP posted the following documents on the International Trade Data System's Standard Data Set:

ITDS Standard Data Set Overview

ITDS Standard Data Set Diagrams

September 2008 ITDS Standard Data Set - Trade Report

(The SDS is a comprehensive list of data elements required by government agencies with a role in the import/export process; its goal is to support the ACE/ITDS vision of harmonized data and a seamless automated approach ("single window") to federal regulation at U.S. borders.)

9. Miscellaneous CBP Messages on AD and CV Duty Actions

The antidumping and countervailing messages U.S. Customs Border and Protection issues on behalf of the International Trade Administration 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.)