The Federal Maritime Commission should go beyond its proposal in relaxing filing requirements for non-vessel operating common carrier service arrangements, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in March 30 comments to the agency (here). The FMC asked for public comments on proposed changes (see 1602290029) to allow "a service contract amendment to be filed individually and sequentially within 30 days of its effectiveness" or "any number of service contract amendments to be consolidated into a single document, but filed within 30 days of the effective date of the earliest of all amendments contained in the document." The NCBFAA said it does not consider the proposals far reaching enough to provide relief for the NVOCC industry. Instead, the FMC should remove the filing and essential terms publication requirements altogether, it said.
CBP clarified agency regulations "to include updated and more narrowly tailored authorities to permit the collection" of Employer Identification Numbers or Social Security numbers as part of regulatory audits, said CBP in a notice (here). The clarifications accompany a separate notice on the Regulatory Audit Archive System (RAAS) System of Records (here). "This system of records allows DHS/CBP to collect and maintain records on individuals subject to regulatory audits of customs brokers, importers, and other parties involved in international trade activities," it said. "CBP is updating this system of records notice to reflect changes to its authorities, category of records, and routine uses."
China Customs forms have new fields for trade region, country of origin/final destination, special relation confirmation, price impact confirmation, and royalty payment confirmation, according to a directive of the General Customs Administration (GAC) of China cited by global logistics company Expeditors (here). The forms also no longer have fields for foreign exchange permit number, customs remarks, release date, declaration form print date, and broker contact information, said the company. Those changes and others went into effect March 30, two days after GAC published Announcement No. 20 (here), which ordered revisions to China’s Import/Export Declaration Form. They are the first revisions to the form since 2008, said the company.
Despite some brief “system slowdowns” for ACE users following the March 31 mandatory use dates for most entry summaries and certain PGA entries in ACE, the issues “have been resolved,” said a CBP spokeswoman. CBP "regrets" the issues and has its "technical teams operating 24/7” to increase “monitoring of ACE system performance to address any additional need for faster response times while maintaining the security and integrity of the system,” she said.
CBP is continuing to track stakeholder readiness for ACE transition, and expects its first mandatory use date on March 31 to proceed smoothly, said an agency spokeswoman that same day. The switch from a hard Feb. 28 deadline to phased approach “has alleviated concerns voiced by the trade community regarding readiness by staggering the integration of the PGAs, and allowing more time for all parties to fully transition to ACE,” she said.
After months of hand-wringing and multiple delays, the first ACE mandatory use date on March 31 looks set to go smoothly, said software developers and customs brokers the day before the transition. CBP’s phased implementation approach appears to have paid dividends, with March 31 marking no change at all for many filers who already file the required types of entries and entry summaries in ACE, they said.
Clear timelines, greater legal transparency, and advance tariff rulings required within the customs regimes of Trans-Pacific Partnership member countries could have a larger role than the pact’s tariff reductions in sparking trade and enhancing supply chains, according to an analysis of the TPP published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (here). While TPP contains several important customs provisions, it stops short of setting deadlines for countries to implement World Customs Organization standards and to start using a single automated entry point, said the think tank. Some customs provisions also contain weak implementation language, as words like “endeavor” and “encourage,” ostensibly instead of language like “require” and “must,” frequently appear, it said.
Everglory Logistics acquired LITESHIP International, a customs brokerage in Boston, for an undisclosed amount, Everglory said in a news release (here). "The acquisition of LITESHIP has also set in motion plans to create a seamless, full-service customer experience integrating forwarding and Customs brokerage," Everglory said. "It also provides a roadmap for future software updates that will unify both processes in a single system for our customers." Everglory now has three licensed brokers, it said.
The National Association of Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America will lose Executive Vice President barbara reilly, the trade group said March 21 (here). Effective June 7, reilly will end her 16-year tenure with the NCBFAA, said the association. "Preparations are currently underway to conduct a search for a replacement," it said.
Port operators and longshoremen should get an early start on negotiations over the next west coast contract to avoid the disruptions that plagued west coast ports in 2014, said a group of over 100 trade organizations in a letter to the Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union dated March 15 (here). With the current contract set to expire in 2019, there remain “important and difficult issues” to resolve, and talks should “begin as early as possible in order to lay the groundwork for a new contract, or contract extension, without major disruption,” said the trade groups, which included the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, American Association of Exporters and Importers and American Apparel & Footwear Association. Both sides should also “pledge to avoid actions that would slow, stop, or disrupt cargo movement during negotiations,” said the letter.