Visit the Website of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. What resources does it contain for the trade community? Go to the “Trade” page and link to “Legal Decisions/Publications.” What legal resources appear here that you have studied or used in this chapter? 

a. The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) is a searchable database of about 100,000 ruling letters. Access the database and try locating rulings on some of the issues discussed in this chapter. For example, enter “country of origin” together with the name of a product or class of products and see what you can find. Remember, these letters are binding only for the individual to whom they are written and only for that transaction. Nevertheless, they are a helpful guide to importers. 

b. The Customs Bulletins and Decisions is a weekly diary of all official acts of the agency. What type of information does it contain, and who might want to follow this on a regular basis? 

c. Go to the “Trade” page and link to “Cargo Security.” Look at the Container Security Initiative. More than eleven million ocean containers enter U.S. ports every year. Only a tiny fraction of the containers can be inspected by hand. Any one of them could be used to hide a weapon of mass destruction. Look at the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), a process for enhancing security between U.S. importers and their foreign supply chains based on utilizing intelligence, pre-screening, detection technology, and tamper-evident containers. How do you think the threat of terrorism and Customs’ security programs will affect global transportation in the years to come? What is Customs’ “24-hour rule” for loading cargo aboard ships destined for the United States?