CBP has posted a presentation that provides information on the Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS), a feature of its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). According to CBP, this presentation was developed for members of the trade community to utilize in their presentations to other members of the trade community as part of the ACE and PMS outreach effort. The presentation discusses the benefits of PMS, which include: (1) providing additional flexibility and potentially significant cash flow advantages, (2) allowing the broker to select either a national or a port statement, (3) allowing the broker to pay on behalf of the importer on either an importer or broker statement from the importer or broker Automated Clearing House (ACH) account, etc. (CBP's ACE Periodic Monthly Statement overview, dated March 2006, available at http://www.customs.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/briefings_info/trade_pms_presentation.ctt/trade_pms_presentation.pdf.)
CBP has issued its weekly tariff rate quota (TRQ) commodity report as of February 21, 2006. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, tuna, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa powder, tobacco, certain JFTA, MFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, UAFTA and UCFTA TRQs, etc. This report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, CBTPA, MFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA (CFTA) tariff preference levels (TPLs) for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (CBP's weekly quota commodity report, dated 02/21/06, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an updated notice entitled, "ACE on the Road" which lists various February - April 2006 meetings, seminars, and conferences concerning a range of Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) topics.
Washington Trade Daily reports that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff handed over the government's responsibility for co-directing the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). According to the article, COAC's February 9, 2006 meeting was co-chaired by Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Deborah Spero, while previous meetings had been co-chaired by an assistant secretary of DHS. (Washington Trade Daily, dated 02/10/06, www.washingtontradedaily.com.)
On February 6, 2006, President Bush transmitted to Congress his fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget. (FY 2007 is from October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007.)
American Shipper reports that in President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2007, which was sent to Congress and made public on February 6, 2006, funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be up 6% from the budget request from last year, with most of the difference earmarked for immigration enforcement and emergency preparedness. The article reports that requested funding would stay flat, compared with the budget request for last year, for border security programs such as the Container Security Initiative (CSI) and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). (AS, dated 02/07/06, www.americanshipper.com )
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message which it states updates previous messages on the Period Monthly Statement (PMS) application procedures for non-portal accounts and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) partners who hold portal accounts.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted an updated version of its list of answers to questions submitted by the trade community at its November 2005 Trade Symposium which is posted to CBP's Web site.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice announcing that the next meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) will be held on February 9, 2006 in Washington, DC. (This committee was previously called the "Treasury Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the U.S. Customs Service.")