C-TPAT
C-Air/C-Air International / www.c-air.com / Eric Jones - eric@cairla.com
C-Air is pleased to notify our importers that the C-TPAT customs link at our website is now operational. Importers are invited to click on the C-TPAT logo from our website to access several customs links related to C-TPAT. Also, from the links option at the top of the website, there is an option to access customs website directly and view more information and links related to C-TPAT.
The C-Air offices also provide assistance to importers in areas that we have relevant expertise to both join C-TPAT or with importer’s re-validation. Two areas that we may be of assistance to importers are with their security procedures and information security. Clients are encouraged to have their import and technology staff contact C-Air for assistance in applying for C-TPAT status or answering questions for their re-validation.
Importers should also instruct their receiving warehouses in the United States to inspect the container’s seal to insure that it has not been tampered with. Should a seal be found to be compromised the receiving warehouse should report it to their local customs office at the port of entry, their nearest C-TPAT office, or telephoning 1-800-Be Alert.
C-Air is in the process of updating our website to include a button at our C-TPAT logo that will take importers directly to customs C-TPAT information and specific links to educate importers on the security procedures described here and other supply chain recommendations.
CBP Advises Early Travel for Memorial Day
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.ustr.gov
Blaine, Wash. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing the early opening of additional inspectional lanes into the United States for travelers during the start of this Memorial Day holiday weekend.
On Saturday, May 26, all inspection lanes will open at 7 a.m. at the Peace Arch and Pacific Highway ports of entry and CBP is encouraging travelers to take advantage of these earlier openings.
“Memorial Day is observed as a day of remembrance for those soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have given the supreme sacrifice in service to our country,” said Area Port Director Gregory Alvarez. “For many others, it is also the start of the summer travel season and will result in heavy traffic entering the United States through Blaine area ports. Once again all travelers are strongly encouraged to take advantage of these early openings, to plan your trip ahead of time and to allow extra time for crossing the border.”
CBP strongly encourages travelers to obtain a radio frequency identification-enabled travel document such as a U.S. Passport Card, Enhanced Driver’s License/Enhanced Identification Card or Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI, Global Entry or FAST/EXPRES) to expedite their entry and make crossing the border more efficient. The new Ready Lane is open at Peace Arch for those travelers with RFID-enabled cards.
To avoid long delays border crossers may want to use the nearby and less-heavily-traveled port of entry at Sumas on State Highway 9 with a newly constructed NEXUS lane opening May 25 - seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Lynden Port of Entry is also available from 8 a.m. until midnight on State Highway 539.
Do not attempt to bring unauthorized fruits, meats and dairy/poultry products into the United States from Canada without first checking whether they are permitted. Review the “Know Before You Go” tip sheet on the CBP website for additional information concerning your trip into the United States.
CBP, Private Industry Share Insights on Border Security Needs
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
To increase dialogue with industry partners, U.S. Customs and Border Protection hosted CBP Industry Day today at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. The one-day event, “Evolving Border Security and Trade Missions: Insights and Discussions with Industry,” outlined agency challenges to inform industry on how to help CBP better fulfill its mission.
The event featured three panel discussions. In the first, CBP decision makers shared with their industry counterparts how new challenges require new ways of thinking. New threats are always emerging and CBP’s job is to find a way to combat them.
For instance, one relatively new tool being employed by drug smugglers is semi-submersible vessels.
“They look like inverted sailboats,” said Executive Director of Mission Support Douglas Koupash of the CBP Office of Air and Marine. The submersibles are usually 65-110 feet long, travel at around 6-10 knots and can carry tons of illicit drugs. The vessels have sophisticated counter-intelligence that they use to circumvent patrols. CBP surveillance aircraft have proven to be an effective deterrent of this new threat, said Koupash.
During the first panel discussion, CBP Assistant Commissioner for Technology Innovation and Acquisition Mark Borkowski said it’s important for the agency to avoid acquiring technology that fails to increase CBP’s capabilities. “It’s important that there is really a benefit,” said Borkowski. “Don’t overshoot. Be simple, accurate and quick.”
Several prime messages that CBP communicated during the second panel on expediting trade and travel served to clue industry in on areas to help CBP further its mission during a period of reduced federal budgets.
“Our challenge is balancing aging equipment with declining budgets,” said John Hihn, director of CBP’s Interdiction Technology Branch. He said that a possible solution is “refurbishing, instead of buying new.”
Increasing cost efficiency is central. “How will you help us not only invest in new technology, but make existing technology more efficient so we can use the savings on new technology?” explained Valerie Isbell, executive director of the CBP Passenger Systems Program Office.
“How can you improve our current systems, bit by bit?” asked Shonnie Lyon, deputy director of US-VISIT. “Let us know the true costs of ownership. We need industry to be upfront about costs.”
The day concluded with an overview of challenges associated with CBP’s intelligence and targeting tasks.
“Our task, in the simplest language, is to identify bad people and bad things before they enter the country,” said Andrew Farrelly, CBP’s acting director of Targeting. Doing so is a key function of the agency because it allows officers to increase time spent on people or goods of uncertain origin. In a time of lessened resources, effective targeting also allows the agency to identify which travelers it can provide expedited screening.
Donna Shaw, deputy executive director of targeting and analysis systems in CBP’s Office of Information Technology, mentioned that increasingly the agency is “moving away from hard-wired offices” to wireless technologies, which could present future opportunities for industry.
Officials from CBP’s internal affairs, intelligence and investigative liaison, Border Patrol and from the Department of Homeland Security’s Advanced Research Projects Agency also spoke and answered questions during the afternoon session.
Baltimore CBP Intercepts First in Port Tumbling Flower Beetle
U.S. Customs & Border Protection / www.cbp.gov
Baltimore – A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist confirmed Monday that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists discovered a new insect pest in the Baltimore area when they intercepted a Tumbling Flower Beetle, family Mordellidae while inspecting containers of stainless steel coils from China at the seaport on May 3.
Tumbling Flower Beetles may pose a significant agriculture threat because they attack and bore into the stems and flowering parts of plants, and eventually kill them. The beetles are known for the irregular movements they make when escaping predators. The movements are a series of very rapid separate jumps that resemble tumbling.
CBP issued an Emergency Action Notification to the importer requiring the shipment to be re-exported or fumigated. The importer chose the fumigation option. Upon successful treatment by USDA, the shipment will be released to its destination in Gurnee, Illinois.
“CBP agriculture specialists take their job of detecting foreign invasive plants and plant pests very seriously,” said Frances B. Garcia, Acting CBP Port Director for the Port of Baltimore. “This is the fourth First in Port discovery in Baltimore in less than a month and another example of why CBP stands ever vigilant against agriculture threats.”
CBP agriculture specialists work closely with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) to protect our nation’s agriculture resources against the introduction of foreign plant pests and animal diseases.
Related information:
For more on the Tumbling Flower Beetle, please visit the Encyclopedia of Life.
FAA Releases Child Safety Website
Federal Aviation Administration / www.faa.gov
CHILD SAFETY WEBSITE
USA: Puppy Mill Dogs Need Your Help—Close Loophole Allowing Internet Mills to Operate Unregulated!
USDA Proposed Animal Welfare Act Regulation
ASPCA-USDA / www.aspca.org/USDA
Currently, only breeders who sell dogs to pet stores or to puppy brokers are required to be licensed and inspected by the USDA. Due to the wording of the federal Animal Welfare Act—passed 40 years ago, before existence of the Internet—a large (and growing) population of commercial breeders has been able to escape federal licensing and regulation. 
What this means is that in many cases, no one is checking up on breeders who sell puppies directly to consumers over the Internet. As the ASPCA has seen firsthand, the photos of happy, healthy puppies posted on a breeder’s website often grossly misrepresent what conditions are really like for these puppies and their parents.
ASPCA experts have reviewed the USDA’s proposed rule—we support it, and have a few suggestions regarding how it could be made stronger. Please help us ensure that the Internet-breeder licensing loophole is closed!
The USDA is accepting comments from the public on this issue for a short time. Visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center online today to quickly and easily submit a comment to the USDA, letting the agency know that you support the proposed rule to close a loophole that has caused untold thousands of dogs to suffer inhumane treatment without any federal or public oversight.
Kennedy International Recalls Folding Step Stools Due to Fall Hazard
Consumer Product & Safety Commission/ www.cpsc.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product.
Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.
Name of Product: Folding Step Stools
Units: About 1.6 million in the United States and 64,000 in Canada
Importer: Kennedy International Inc., of Dayton, N.J.
Hazard: The folding step stools can break or collapse unexpectedly when in use, posing a fall hazard to consumers.
Incidents/Injuries: Kennedy International is aware of at least 15 reports of incidents involving step stools cracking or breaking, including three reports of injuries to consumers using the stools. Injuries included two reports of back injuries and one report of a fractured leg.
Description: This recall involves 9-inch and 13-inch Kennedy International folding step stools. The step stools are plastic and have a handle for carrying the stools when they are folded. The style number is 3575 for the 9-inch and 3576 for the 13-inch step stools. The style number is printed on a sticker on one of the legs of the stool. "Kennedy Home Collection" is also printed on a label on some of the stools. They were sold in the following colors: blue, green, gray, red, purple, pink, orange, turquoise, aqua, white, plum, orchid, emerald, sapphire, sangria, ocean, sage, fuchsia, lime and various color combinations. 
Sold at: HomeGoods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx and other retailers nationwide from January 2010 through January 2012 for between $8 and $12.
Manufactured in: China
Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled step stools and contact Kennedy International to receive a full refund.
Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Kennedy International toll-free at (855) 270-8301 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's website at www.kennedy-intl.com
Note: Health Canada's press release is available at http://cpsr-rspc.hc-sc.gc.ca/PR-RP/recall-retrait-eng.jsp?re_id=1586