U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Altol Chemical and Environmental Laboratory, Inc. (Ponce, PR), has been accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of September 27, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that AmSpec LLC (Sulphur, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of August 24, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Camin Cargo Control, Inc. (Corpus Christi, TX), has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of August 8, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Camin Cargo Control, Inc. (Richmond, CA), has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of March 15, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that SGS North America, Inc. (St. Rose, LA), has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of May 9, 2018.

This document provides notice of the revocation by operation of law of a customs broker's license.

This notice advises the public that the quarterly Internal Revenue Service interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties will increase from the previous quarter. For the calendar quarter beginning January 1, 2019, the interest rates for overpayments will be 5 percent for corporations and 6 percent for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will be 6 percent for both corporations and non-corporations. This notice is published for the convenience of the importing public and U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). The information collection is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and must be submitted (no later than April 22, 2019) to be assured of consideration.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Forest Service (Forest Service) Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF) announce the availability of the Bog Creek Road Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the agencies' respective Draft Records of Decision (ROD). The Final EIS identifies and assesses potential impacts upon the environment of: Repairing and maintaining an approximately 5.6-mile section of the existing Bog Creek Road, which is located in the Selkirk Mountains in Boundary County, Idaho, within approximately two miles of the Canadian border, on land within the Blue-Grass Bear Management Unit (BMU) that is managed by the Forest Service; and closing for motorized use additional roads within the Blue-Grass BMU to comply with the Forest Plan Amendments for Motorized Access Management within the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Zones (Access Amendment) and to reduce road density in the Blue-Grass BMU. The CBP Draft ROD addresses the decision to approve the funding for and implement the repair and maintenance of the Bog Creek Road. The Forest Service Draft ROD addresses the decisions to: Approve CBP's repair and maintenance of Bog Creek Road for administrative use by CBP, the Forest Service, and others; implement the motorized closure of seasonally restricted Forest Service roads to establish grizzly bear core area habitat and meet Access Amendment standards for the Blue- Grass BMU; and implement changes in the seasonally restricted designation of roads in the Blue- Grass BMU. This document provides instructions for filing objections to the Forest Service's Draft ROD.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) will hold its quarterly meeting on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, in Washington, DC. The meeting will be open to the public.

This document provides notice that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of Rhythmlink International, LLC's self-adhesive cutaneous electrode. Based upon the facts presented, CBP has concluded that the country of origin of the self-adhesive cutaneous electrode is the United States for purposes of U.S. Government procurement.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that AmSpec LLC (New Haven, CT), has been accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes as of November 8, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Inspectorate America Corporation (Corpus Christi, TX), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of February 14, 2017.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Certispec Services USA, Inc. (Texas City, TX), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of April 3, 2017.

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect an extension of import restrictions on certain archaeological material from China. The restrictions, which were originally imposed by CBP Dec. 09-03 and last extended by CBP Dec. 14-02, are due to expire on January 14, 2019. The Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, United States Department of State, has made the requisite determination for extending the import restrictions that previously existed and entering into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China to reflect the extension of these import restrictions. The new MOU supersedes the existing agreement that became effective on January 14, 2009. Accordingly, these import restrictions will remain in effect for an additional five years, and the CBP regulations are being amended to reflect this further extension through January 14, 2024. This document also contains the amended Designated List that describes the types of archaeological material to which the restrictions apply, including a new subcategory of glass objects from the Zhou period through the Tang period.

This rule adjusts for inflation the amounts that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can assess as civil monetary penalties for the following two violationstransporting passengers coastwise for hire by certain vessels (known as Bowaters vessels) that do not meet specified conditions; and employing a vessel in a trade without a required Certificate of Documentation. These adjustments are being made in accordance with the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act) which was enacted on November 2, 2015. Other CBP civil penalty amounts were adjusted pursuant to this 2015 Act in rule documents published in the Federal Register on July 1, 2016; January 27, 2017; December 8, 2017; and April 2, 2018, but the adjustments for these two civil penalties were inadvertently left out of those documents.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is cognizant of the need to stay modern in order to meet the challenges of an evolving trade landscape. New actors, industries, and modes of conducting business have emerged, disrupting the traditional global supply chain. To continue to effectively fulfill CBP's mission, CBP is pursuing an initiative titled ``The 21st Century Customs Framework.'' ``The 21st Century Customs Framework'' will seek to address and enhance numerous aspects of CBP's trade mission to better position CBP to operate in the 21st century trade environment. Through preliminary efforts, CBP has identified key themes for which CBP seeks public input: Emerging Roles in the Global Supply Chain, Intelligent Enforcement, Cutting-Edge Technology, Data Access and Sharing, 21st Century Processes, and Self- Funded Customs Infrastructure. To that end, CBP is announcing a public meeting to discuss these themes. CBP will use the public comments received in response to this notice to initiate discussion at the public meeting for CBP to consider possible policy, regulatory, and statutory improvements to further the trade mission. CBP is already pursuing related efforts through the Border Interagency Executive Council and the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and is ensuring coordination among these initiatives.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that AmSpec LLC (Yorktown, VA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products and accredited to test petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of August 14, 2018.

This document adopts as final, with changes, proposed amendments to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations implementing changes to the drawback regulations, as directed by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA). These regulations establish new processes for drawback pursuant to TFTEA, which liberalize the merchandise substitution standard, simplify recordkeeping requirements, extend and standardize timelines for filing drawback claims, and require the electronic filing of drawback claims. This document also provides details with respect to the process required to perfect TFTEA-based claims filed under CBP's Interim Guidance procedures. Further, this document also finalizes regulations clarifying the prohibition on the filing of a substitution drawback claim for internal revenue excise tax in situations where no excise tax was paid upon the substituted merchandise or where the substituted merchandise is the subject of a different claim for refund or drawback of tax.

This document provides notice that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') has issued a final determination concerning the country of origin of certain jet fuel. Based upon the facts presented, CBP has concluded that the country of origin of this jet fuel is India for purposes of U.S. Government procurement.

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to update provisions relating to the declaration, entry and dutiable status of repair expenditures made abroad for certain vessels to reflect the port of New Orleans, Louisiana as the only Vessel Repair Unit (VRU) location. The amendment will improve the efficiency of vessel repair entry processing, ensure the proper assessment and collection of duties, and make the regulations more transparent.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Marine Technical Surveyors, Inc. (Donaldsonville, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of May 8, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that Coastal Gulf and International (Baton Rouge, LA), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 26, 2018.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that WFR Metering, Inc. (Houston, TX), has been approved to gauge petroleum and certain petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 12, 2017.

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to CBP regulations, that SGS North America, Inc., has been approved to gauge and accredited to test petroleum and petroleum products for customs purposes for the next three years as of July 20, 2018.