U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a Rail Manifest CSMS message announcing that early in the morning of April 10, 2008, it began to experience a back-up in the MQ channel that handles rail messages.
The European Community maintains a Customs and Security Web site which provides updated information on EC customs and security measures, initiatives, legislation, tariffs and duties, etc.
According to a Journal of Commerce article, C-TPAT members should be able to avoid terminal demurrage charges - assuming that the seal on the container remains intact - as C-TPAT members are allowed to remove containers on a bill of lading that are not targeted for a Customs inspection to an off-dock storage yard, where demurrage charges are substantially less. (See ITT's Online Archives or 08/08/07 news, 07080805, for most recent BP summary on this benefit.) (JoC dated 03/24/08, www.joc.com.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a Truck Manifest CSMS message stating that the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Certification Environment will be unavailable for trade testing on April 15, 2008 from 7:00 a.m. EDT until 11:00 p.m. EDT. (CSMS 08-000044, dated 03/28/08, available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/viewmssg.asp?Recid=17050&page=&srch_argv=&srchtype=&btype=&sortby=&sby)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a press release announcing that CBP and the European Commission's Taxation and Customs Union Directorate have adopted the U.S.-EU Joint Customs Cooperation Committee Roadmap towards Mutual Recognition of Trade Partnership Programs (Roadmap).
At the February 13, 2008 meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC), CBP officials discussed the progress that has been made towards achieving mutual recognition between CBP's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and other countries' supply chain security programs, including Jordan's Golden List Program (GLP).
Although U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the General Administration of China Customs recently began their C-TPAT validation pilot program with three volunteer C-TPAT importers in mid-March, CBP sources state that the validation visits have already occurred. The next step is for a validation report to be prepared which contains recommendations to address any supply chain security weaknesses. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/26/08 news, 08032605, for earlier BP summary on this pilot.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a press release to its Web site announcing that CBP and the General Administration of China Customs began a Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism validation pilot program in China during the week of March 17, 2008.
During the February 13, 2008 meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC)1, CBP officials discussed, among other things, the possibility of a review of whether risk management could be applied to CBP's bond processes.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) PowerPoint presentation from the 2008 Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) seminar that was held on February 26-29, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana.