CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued a determination that will prohibit certain shipping services related to Russian oil, and said it will soon announce a price cap on Russian fuel alongside its G-7 partners. The agency also issued a guidance outlining how it plans to implement the price cap -- including compliance requirements for U.S. service providers -- and three related general licenses.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a Nov. 21 order denied customs broker test taker Byungmin Chae's motion for an oral argument in his case seeking credit on a select number of test questions. The court said that the appeal will be submitted on their briefs without oral argument (Byungmin Chae v. Janet Yellen, Fed. Cir. #22-2017).
Alba Wheels Up recently acquired San Francisco-based customs brokerage KSI, the company said in a news release. “One of the largest independent customs brokers in the Bay Area with strength in customs clearances for the biotech and semiconductor industries,” KSI’s headquarters in San Francisco will now become Alba’s fifth office, alongside existing offices in Los Angeles, Houston, Jersey City and Valley Stream, New York, Alba said.
CBP's Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will next meet Dec. 7 in College Park, Maryland, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Dec. 2.
At least one broker on a CBP webinar on how new Part 111 broker regulations will be implemented continued to be confused about how to determine if the company has a "sufficient" number of licensed customs brokers to supervise employees who file customs entries.
Spirulina Blue Colour is a "binder for foundry molds" for tariff purposes rather than a microorganism or animal product, according to an Aug. 26 CBP headquarters ruling, HQ H324168. The product at issue is Spirulina Blue, a water-soluble, coloring powder that ranges from light greenish blue to dark blue. Made in China, it's sold to food manufacturers for use in the beverage, confectionary, dairy, nutraceutical and pet food industries, according to Calico Food Ingredient. The product is said to “enhance immunity” and have “anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects.” The powder originates with spirulina, a one-cell algae from which the blue color phycocyanin is extracted. The ingredients in the CA2786 Spirulina Blue Colour are composed of 50%-55% phycocyanin from China, 45%-50% trehalose from Japan, and 5% sodium citrate from China. The trehalose is meant to protect the protein and the sodium citrate is meant to adjust the PH and can protect the color.
Spirulina Blue Colour is a "binder for foundry molds" for tariff purposes rather than a microorganism or animal product, according to an Aug. 26 CBP headquarters ruling, HQ H324168. The product at issue is Spirulina Blue, a water-soluble, coloring powder that ranges from light greenish blue to dark blue. Made in China, it's sold to food manufacturers for use in the beverage, confectionary, dairy, nutraceutical and pet food industries, according to Calico Food Ingredient. The product is said to “enhance immunity” and have “anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects.” The powder originates with spirulina, a one-cell algae from which the blue color phycocyanin is extracted. The ingredients in the CA2786 Spirulina Blue Colour are composed of 50%-55% phycocyanin from China, 45%-50% trehalose from Japan, and 5% sodium citrate from China. The trehalose is meant to protect the protein and the sodium citrate is meant to adjust the PH and can protect the color.
CBP officials raised the prospect of an indefinite delay to their plans to add a new data element for the Chinese postal code to cargo release filings, after customs brokers and software developers raised concerns about the new requirement during a regular bi-weekly call to discuss ACE on Oct. 27.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Oct. 22 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):