The Journal of Commerce reports that according to the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports' harbor commissions, the ports can operate under two separate Clean Truck Programs, even though they comprise a single harbor complex, as their fees, timeline for retiring old trucks and deadline for reducing pollution are the same. (JoC, dated 03/27/08, www.joc.com)
Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)
The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the CBP's electronic system through which the international trade community reports imports and exports and the government determines admissibility.
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)
On March 3, 2008, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a Truck Manifest CSMS message announcing that the Automated Commercial Environment electronic manifest update that will give truck carriers and customs brokers the capability to arrive in-bonds1 at destination by equipment (trailer/container, etc.), export in-bonds that have previously arrived by in-bond bills of lading and container/equipment, and to cancel in-bond arrivals and exports, has been delayed to April 5, 2008.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an additional chapter to its "ACE ABI CATAIR" document that it is building to replace the current Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) document.
The Chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC)1 has submitted "unofficial" comments on CBP's proposed rule to amend 19 CFR to require Security Filing (SF) information from importers and additional information from carriers (10+2) for vessel (maritime) cargo before it is brought into the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) fact sheets for each year of 1999 through 20081.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the February 2008 Automated Commercial Environment Trade Account Owner (TAO) monthly update as an attachment to an ACE Portal Accounts CSMS message.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a memo providing proration and liquidation instructions for the 2008 in-quota (low duty) tariff-rate quota quantity for tuna and skipjack (tuna), in airtight containers, not in oil, weighing with their contents not over 7 kilograms each, that is not the product of any U.S. insular possession.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued an ACE Portal Accounts CSMS message providing, as an attachment, the February 2008 ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) monthly update.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of March 10, 2008. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, tobacco, certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs, etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying apparel and/or other textile articles, the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc. (CBP's weekly TRQ/TPL commodity report, dated 03/10/08, available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/textiles_and_quotas/commodity/)