Journal of Commerce
Virginia International Terminals will only be accepting loaded containers into the terminals in order to maximize capacity in
the container stacks for cargo diverted from the Port of New York and NewJersey, which remains closed to container ships until further notice.
VIT said the new policy will take effect at the start of business on Monday, Nov. 5, and continue until further notice.
In a parallel effort, the terminal operating company this week began culling the stacks at APM Terminals in Portsmouth and
Norfolk International Terminals of all additional empty containers.
It said that on Monday, Nov. 5, and without exception, all 20- and 40-foot empty containers must be taken to the empty yards that are in Portsmouth and Norfolk; all specials will be accepted at the marine terminals.
In addition, VIT is expanding the empty yard at Portsmouth Marine Terminal to accommodate the repositioning effort and handle
the normal flow of empty containers
VIT said the move is temporary and made in response to the constantly changing and dynamic situation that has come about
on the U.S. East Coast as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
Washington – Hurricane Sandy was a crippling storm along the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. It left more than eightmillion residents and businesses without power. U.S. Customs and Border Protection employees are among those left without power, with flooded homes and with damaged roofs. Now begins the task of recovering and resuming criticalsecurity, enforcement, and passenger and cargo inspection operations.
To that end, CBP officers and agriculture specialists in New England and in the Mid-Atlantic are scheduled to process 33 international flights, three cruise ships and one cargo ship today. Airport and seaportoperations in the New York region remain suspended.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection is our nation’s preeminent border security agency; even in the midst of a disastrous storm, CBPcontinues to do all it can to facilitate the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Our CBP team recognizes the vital and critical part that our organization plays in our nation’s economy and security. Our CBP employees are positioned and ready to return to duty in order to resume routine business operations,” said Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar. “We are committing all necessaryresources to ensure that CBP is doing its part to ensure safe, secure and efficient business activities relating to the processing of international travelers and cargo.”
CBP activated its Lead Field Coordinators (LFC) Thursday to manage agency preparations, response, recovery, and business resumption operations associated with Hurricane Sandy. LFCs are activated for each effected Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region.
LFCs for FEMA Regions I, II and III are Boston Director of Field Operations (DFO) Kevin Weeks, New York DFO Robert E. Perez, and Baltimore DFO Michael J. Lovejoy, respectively.
In Region I, LFC Weeks reports 17 international flight arrivals to Boston Logan International Airport, and three cruise ship arrivals and one cargo ship arrival to Boston Harbor. All airports, seaports and land border crossings are fully operational.
In Region III, LFC Lovejoy reports 16 scheduled international flight arrivals – 14 flights at Washington Dulles International Airport, one at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, and one at Philadelphia International Airport. CBP is staffing seaportfacilities in the Ports of Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., but waterways remain under Coast Guard restrictions. The Port of Baltimore is open only for non-containerized cargo which can be rolled on and off ships. The Port of Norfolk, Va., is planning cargo operations today. All ports are expected to resume full operations Wednesday.
Region II was the most heavily impacted by Sandy. LFC Perez reports that all international flights to Newark Liberty International Airport,John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport are cancelled for today. Additionally, all seaport terminals and waterways remain closed. CBP is fully staffed and continues to work with our port partners to identify a timeline to resume operations.
Meanwhile, CBP urges the public to remain engaged with FEMA and their state Emergency Management Agencies for continuing safety and recovery messages, and disaster assistance.
Members of the trade community should continue to monitor www.CBP.gov for updates on port operations and on CBP’s efforts to minimize disruptions. ( CBP.gov )
The United States Department of Commerce, Foreign Trade Zone Board has approved Bay Brokerage, Inc. to operate a Foreign Trade Zone at their new site in Jefferson County near the Thousand Island Bridge.
FTZs are considered to be outside of U.S. Customs Territory for the purpose of customs duty payment. Therefore, goods entering FTZs are not subject to customs tariffs until the goods leave the zone and are formally entered into U.S. Customs Territory. Merchandise that is shipped to foreign countries from FTZs is exempt from duty payments.
A variety of activities can be conducted in a zone, including assembling, packaging, destroying, storing, cleaning, exhibiting, re-packing, distributing, sorting, grading, testing, labeling, repairing, combining with foreign or domestic content, or processing.
This Foreign Trade Zone will have numerous advantages for our clients both foreign and domestic while benefiting the local economy
The Canadian Border Services Agency has issued notice of new procedures for importing new vehicles into Canada.
1. This notice is to clarify the border declaration procedure for new Canadian specification vehicles (Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS) compliant) being imported into Canada from foreign countries, including the United States.
2. Please note that NEW Canadian specification vehicles bearing a valid Canadian Statement of Compliance label cannot be entered into the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) Program.
– A vehicle is considered “NEW” when it is purchased directly from a manufacturer. Acquisition documents must clearly indicate a purchase at the manufacturing level. Vehicles purchased at the retail level in the United States are not considered “NEW”.
– A “Canadian specification vehicle” is defined as a vehicle built to Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and bearing a Canadian Statement of Compliance to that effect.
3. When a NEW Canadian specification vehicle is presented, authorization must be confirmed by consulting Appendix F or G of Departmental Memorandum D19-12-1, Importation of Vehicles, to ensure that the importer is listed as an authorized Canadian importer for the vehicle being imported.
4. When the importer is listed in Appendix F, or the importer and manufacturer are listed in Appendix G proceed as usual as outlined in D19-12-1.
5. When the importer is not listed in Appendix F, or the importer and manufacturer are not listed in Appendix G, the entry requires an authorization letter from Transport Canada and can only be released in the presence of such a letter.
6. The entry for new Canadian specification vehicles is documented using Vehicle Import Form – Form 1 and proper care must be taken to identify a commercial importation (imported for resale) by completing section 16-A, or a casual importation (imported for personal/private use) by completing section 16-B. Companies who import for their own use (not for resale) are considered private importers. A sample of the Form 1 can be found in Appendix C of Memorandum D19-12-1.
7. If an importer is not listed on Appendix G, border service officers are asked to add a note besides box 16-A, or box 16-B (depending on the nature of the importation) indicating that a letter of authorization was received from Transport Canada, and include a photocopy of the authorization with the Form 1.
8. It is the importer’s responsibility to obtain authorization from Transport Canada prior to presenting the vehicle for importation at the border. If no acceptable authorization from Transport Canada is provided, the vehicle is to be denied entry.
9. As a reminder, Transport Canada does not regulate vehicles 15 years old or older, or buses manufactured before January 1, 1971. Such entries are documented as exempt from the RIV program and by selecting “Vehicle fifteen years old or older etc …” under Section 16 of the Vehicle Import Form – Form 1 (box 16-C).
Effective March 1, 2012 the current International Organization for Standardization (ISO) mechanical seal standard (ISO/PAS 17712) will be replaced with a new ISO standard–ISO 17712:2010. C-TPAT understands that seals are costly, and companies are not expected to discard seals currently in stock. However, after companies have exhausted their current stock of high security seals, it is recommended that they purchase seals which are compliant with the new ISO 17712:2010 standard.
Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announces today the release of the updated Bonded Warehouse Manual for Customs and Border Protection Officers and bonded Warehouse Proprietors. Bonded Warehouses provide storage facilities for imported cargo that is pending importation into or exportation from the United States. The Bonded Warehouse Manual was last updated in 1990.
The Bonded Warehouse Manual was developed by CBP to serve as a comprehensive guide to understanding bonded warehouse operations. The publication brings together many different references into one document including laws, regulations, other agency issuances, and rulings dealing with bonded warehouses.
The majority of the manual deals with bonded warehouse operations and procedures, however, information is included regarding centralized examination stations (CES) and container freight stations (CFS).
STR Trade
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported Oct. 21 that the Food and Drug Administration has added a new affirmation of compliance (AofC) code VOL for volume. This code and qualifier can be used to communicate the container volume of a low-acid canned food product packaged in a container that does not have traditional can dimensions. For example, when sending data for banana puree packaged in a 220 gallon container, filers should send AofC code VOL with a qualifier of 220. However, this code should not be sent in place of can dimensions when the product is packaged in a container with the traditional two or three can dimensions, which will result in a failure of the automated database look-up.
Recent trade legislation (H.R. 2832) changed the merchandise processing fee (MPF) rate for formal entries (class code 499) from 0.21 percent (0.0021) to 0.3464 percent (0.003464). The minimum MPF amount of $25.00 and the maximum MPF amount of $485.00 were not changed.
CBP is in the process of modifying its automated systems to accept the new MPF rate of 0.3464 percent. At the present time, CBP does not have an exact date when the MFP system changes will be completed.
CBP will notify the trade in a future message when entry summaries can be submitted with the new MPF rate. CBP plans on providing approximately 1-weeks’ notice when CBP will be able to accept the new MPF rate. This applies to both ACE and ACE filed entry summaries.
The Department of Commerce (“Department”) is conducting an
administrative review of the anti-dumping duty order on wooden bedroom
furniture from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). The period of
review (“POR”) is January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. This
administrative review covers multiple exporters of the subject
merchandise.
Fourteen companies failed to provide separate rate information and,
thus, did not demonstrate that they are entitled to a separate rate and
have been treated as part of the PRC-wide entity. One company
demonstrated that it is entitled to a separate rate. If these
preliminary results are adopted in the final results of review, the Department
of Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) to assess
anti-dumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise
during the POR.
Washington — U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC) is on the lookout for illegal imports of noncompliant High Intensity Discharge (HID) conversion kits, light sources, and ballasts. Since receiving a commercial allegation in December 2010, CBP has identified hundreds of shipments for examination at various ports of entry across the U.S. including Los Angeles, Anchorage, Cleveland, San Juan, Miami, Detroit, Champlain, Orlando and Seattle.