The Fish and Wildlife Service will soon announce a “limited” ACE production pilot for filing of its partner government agency dataset, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an emailed update. The production phase pilot, expected to begin May 1, follows the resumption of testing in the certification environment for FWS entries (see 1701190011), after FWS suspended its initial pilot in January 2017 over concerns the agency had set excessive data requirements (see 1708250042). Importers and brokers have expressed interest in the new pilot, but “very few software developers have been willing to design to the interim plan, only to have to redesign when the final plan is reached,” the NCBFAA said. “The FWS' upcoming pilot will focus initially on low volume importers at low volume ports. Any brokers who are interested in participating in the pilot should contact Tamesha Woulard (tamesha_woulard@fws.gov) to see if they could be a good fit for the initial roll out,” the trade group said. FWS did not comment.
INLT, a new customs broker and “logistics tech start-up,” on April 10 announced “final U.S. government approval and launch of its cloud-based web application,” it said in a press release. The brokerage’s cloud-based software will save “importers and freight forwarders time and money” by connecting importers to their forwarders for classification of goods, submission of documents, tracking and transmission to CBP, the press release said. “INLT is freight agnostic, allowing importers to continue with their current partners while deriving operational, compliance, and cost benefits of INLT’s application,” the company said. INLT’s software will also allow forwarders to “connect their agents globally via INLT’s first of its kind cloud-based application reducing the need for calls, emails, and faxes in a heavily paper-driven industry,” it said.
CBP will expand its definition of "importer" under Importer Security Filing (ISF) regulations, the agency said in a notice. Despite some concerns raised by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America and the World Shipping Council (see 1609120024), the final rule adopts the definition changes as proposed in 2016 (see 1607050028). The rule will take effect on May 14.
There are some new signs of progress for an update to customs broker regulations in 19 CFR Part 111, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner in the CBP Office of Trade, during an April 10 interview. Smith gave her approval to a regulatory package on the subject around two weeks ago, she said. "It's moving," but there still are "a lot of people that need to sign off on it," including within CBP, she said. Even so, "it's out of the Office of Trade, which is more progress than we've ever made before."
The Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum were only due on immediate transportation entries that were accepted by the port after the duty rates took effect on March 23, CBP said in an April 5 CSMS message. "Accordingly, entries of steel and aluminum articles covered by an entry for immediate transportation accepted at the port of original importation before March 23, may have been incorrectly rejected by CBP and/or incorrectly filed with a Chapter 99 steel or aluminum HTS classification," the agency said. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America gave similar advice in a note to members on April 4 (see 1804040018).
The recently implemented Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum didn't apply to goods under an Immediate Transportation entry if those goods arrived within U.S. port limits as of the March 23 effective date (see 1803230014), the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in an April 3 email. The NCBFAA said it confirmed that with CBP. "Thus, where an IT was filed for goods which arrived prior to March 23, 2018, 232 duties should not be assessed even though the entry summary was filed after March 23, 2018," it said. Filers that "have deposited 232 duties on IT shipments which arrived prior to March 23, 2018 should contact their [Automated Broker Interface] Client Representative to discuss the procedure for obtaining a refund of the 232 duties." CBP didn't comment.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 26-30 in case they were missed.
Deleon Trade added Paulie Nichols as a broker audit specialist and Melissa Shanahan as a senior trade auditor, the company said. Nichols is a long-time customs broker, while Shanahan worked as an auditor at ICE and CBP before joining Deleon, it said.
Several drawback filers and importers on March 23 filed a court challenge of CBP’s new policies on drawback procedures under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act. They say CBP violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it changed drawback requirements via a guidance document issued in February without allowing for notice and comment on what amount to regulatory changes.
CBP will be "closely monitoring importers’ compliance with the Section 232 measures," which take effect on March 23, a CBP spokesman said. "CBP will enforce the remedies imposed by the President under Section 232 on imports of steel and aluminum from covered countries into the United States," he said. "Companies will be responsible for paying the tariff while their exclusion is under consideration. Imports subject to these measures will be processed through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entry processing system, which CBP uses to determine admissibility and duty requirements for imported goods."