An importer of college dormitory furniture, a sourcing firm, and the owner of both companies will pay a total of $1,525,000 to settle charges that they falsely claimed on customs documentation that they were importing office furniture in an effort to evade antidumping duties on wooden bedroom furniture from China, the Department of Justice said Sept 30 (here). In a whistleblower case brought by a former Omni employee, the government claimed Ecologic Industries, Omni Supply Chain Management and Daniel Scott Goldman “conspired with others” to make false statements and misclassified the furniture on entry documentation to avoid paying antidumping duties, DOJ said.
CBP's proposal to eliminate "blanket certification" and require information for all chemical imports about whether Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations apply seems to contradict ongoing efforts to streamline trade processing, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said (here). "We urge CBP to include an exemption from the negative certification for chemicals that are clearly identified as a pesticide or other chemical not subject to TSCA," the NCBFAA said in comments to CBP in response to the agency's proposal involving the use of ACE for goods subject to TSCA regulations (see 1608260032). "In our view, requiring a negative certification for these non-TSCA products is an overreach that is incompatible" with the 2014 Executive Order on streamlining trade processing, the group said.
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- The Canada Border Services Agency is “still stabilizing” its new Accounts Receivable Ledger (ARL) customs accounting and payment system, some nine months after it went live in January 2016, CBSA Comptroller Jen O’Donoughue said at the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers National Conference on Sept. 26. Many of the most serious issues are the result of payment misallocations that plagued the early stages of the transition, causing some importers to receive notices they owe debts despite having given money to their customs brokers to pay on their behalf. Those issues should no longer occur once CBSA works through a backlog of misallocated payments from February and March, which should be done in the next three months, she said.
Given that the merchandise processing fee (MPF) for informal entries filed for release on goods valued below the de minimis level are minimal, CBP should waive the fees for such entries, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the agency. CBP requested input on how it should approach the "release from manifest" process, commonly known as a Section 321 procedure, for goods under the new $800 de minimis level (see 1608250029). "The NCBFAA believes that qualifying merchandise should be afforded the duty and tax exemptions but entered via ACE and [International Trade Data System] entry procedures thereby assuring the proper data collection and adherence to CBP and Partner Government Agency import requirements," it said.
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- The Canada Border Services Agency looks set to streamline its plans for upcoming advanced import data transmission requirements for importers, similar to the U.S. Importer Security Filing, as it moves toward implementation of the eManifest importer requirement by 2018 at the earliest, according to panelists from CBSA and the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers at the CSCB National Conference on Sept. 26. Rather than require two separate transmissions, CBSA will instead require filing at the same time and in the same system as cargo release data, said Melanie Bedard of Milgram & Company, who led the panel discussion.
Federal prosecutors filed a civil complaint against a garment importer, its executive and a clothing wholesaler for an alleged customs duty evasion scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a Sept. 23 news release (here). The importer, Yingshun Garments, "avoided paying millions of dollars in customs duties" by undervaluing garments on false invoices, the USAO said in the complaint (here). The complaint was the result of an investigation by CBP and ICE's Homeland Security Investigations, ICE said (here).
Angela Collins of Willson International was elected chair of the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers at the CSCB National Conference on Sept. 26. The previous chair, Kim Campbell of mkmarin trade services, remains on the CSCB board in the position of immediate past chair.
NIAGARA ON THE LAKE, Ontario -- With protectionism dominating discussion of trade in the U.S. presidential election, customs brokers throughout North America face uncertainty as to the fate of cross-border flows, said leadership of broker groups from the U.S., Canada and Mexico at the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers National Conference Sept. 27. Given how connected the three countries are, promises of higher tariffs, a border wall and a renegotiation of the terms of NAFTA from Republican candidate Donald Trump seem far-fetched, said Antonio Vidales, president of the Mexican brokers group CAAAREM. Campaign promises often differ from what happens when a candidate assumes office, he said. Nonetheless, Mexican brokers are worried, given the high volume of trade between the two countries.
CBP is “well on the way” to implementing the majority of requirements of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) by the end of 2016, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske told members of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee during a Sept. 27 hearing (here). Still, "despite our best efforts" CBP is "delinquent in some areas of the deadlines,” he said. “But we’re working diligently in putting all of that into place.” Kerlikowske said he and his colleagues will keep Congress informed of the agency’s progress through the end of 2016.
CBP should develop a separate "Section 321 module" for brokers to allow for easier manifest release requests on low-value imports regulated by other agencies, the Express Association of America said in comments to CBP (here). The comments were in response to CBP's regulatory changes to the de minimis value threshold (see 1608250029), a provision of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA) of 2015. Among other questions, CBP sought information on how it should approach the "release from manifest" process, commonly known as a Section 321 procedure, for goods under the new $800 de minimis level when the manifest doesn't include information required by other agencies. Unlike express couriers, customs brokers currently cannot electronically designate Section 321 clearances via manifest (see 1605160030).