CBP is “headed in the right direction” as it works to resolve ACE system performance issues causing some concern in the trade community, the agency’s chief information officer, Phil Landfried, said at the July 27 meeting of the Customs Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC). The agency is “not at 100 percent,” and “probably never will be,” but it’s “trying to get as close” as possible, he said. CBP will be deploying a performance dashboard “over the next couple of days” on its website, giving filers a way to see whether any issues they’re experiencing are systemwide, Landfried said. “If you’re seeing a slow response and we’re reporting green” on a red-yellow-green scale “then obviously there’s a disconnect there, and we should be able to address those right away.”
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) did not include a previously mentioned draft recommendation for new antidumping/countervailing duty evasion reporting requirements for customs brokers within recommendations submitted to CBP during its July 27 meeting in Boston. A draft list of COAC recommendations from the COAC AD/CVD Working Group (see 1607260019) recommended that CBP "consider adding a regulatory provision to enable and require customs brokers to report evidence and/or incidents of evasion." That recommendation wasn't mentioned during the COAC meeting, though the working group did recommend continued outreach to customs brokers and the trade industry on the definition of evasion as described in the customs reauthorization law's AD/CVD provisions, known as the ENFORCE Act, that take effect next month (see 1602230080).
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Trade Modernization Subcommittee plans to begin discussions with the CBP Office of Regulations and Rulings "to review the ruling and decision making process," said Lenny Feldman, a lawyer with Sandler Travis who co-chairs the subcommittee. The goal will be to provide "recommendations to facilitate these procedures," Feldman said during the July 27 COAC meeting in Boston. Following up on the previous COAC meeting in April, when that subcommittee offered recommendations on updating customs broker regulations (see 1604270023), CBP is "on track" to provide "formal comments" by Aug. 12, said Jerry Malmo, director of CBP's Commercial Enforcement Division.
CBP posted its agenda (here) and some other agency documents for the upcoming Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting on July 27 in Boston. Among the posted items are recommendations for coming antidumping/countervailing duties evasions enforcement regulations from the COAC AD/CVD Working Group (here). That working group will recommend new CBP rules requiring customs brokers to report possible AD/CVD evasion, among other things, it said. The new enforcement regulations are a result of the customs reauthorization law's AD/CVD provisions, known as the ENFORCE Act, that take effect Aug. 22 (see 1602230080).
Concerns over potential technical and procedural issues related to the deployment of as-yet-unproven quota systems in ACE are leaving customs brokers uncertain on the eve of the July 23 ACE deadline for most remaining entry types, said brokers in interviews. A lack of real world testing and changes to quota business practices means some brokers aren’t entirely sure what’s going to happen after the deadline. The uncertainty is compounded by the simultaneous decommissioning of legacy Automated Commercial System, which leaves filers without a fallback that has been particularly valuable in the truck environment.
The Minh Phu Group will be exempt from antidumping duties on frozen warmwater shrimp from Vietnam (A-552-802) beginning on July 18, 2016, the Commerce Department said in a notice (here). Starting on that date, subject merchandise produced and exported by Minh Phu Group and its affiliates will no longer be subject to suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements under the Vietnam shrimp order, and importers of subject merchandise from Minh Phu will no longer be subject to AD duty assessments calculated in annual administrative reviews. The partial revocation implements a deal reached with Vietnam to settle a dispute over U.S. antidumping duties at the World Trade Organization (see 1607180043).
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will as of Aug. 1 stop issuing reimbursement checks to brokers and importers, and instead electronically apply all refunds to their accounts, offsetting their debts, CBSA said (here). CBSA initiated the accounts receivable ledger Jan. 25, the first phase of the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management project established to help the agency optimize revenue collection from importers and automate “key business practices,” CBSA said (here).
CBP “has procedures in place to address system issues and communicate with users” in the event of ACE system slowdowns or outages beginning on July 23, “just as we’ve had with ACS,” which will no longer be available for most filing after that date, CBP said in an update to transition procedures for the upcoming deadline (here). “Port downtime or workaround procedures will be implemented as determined by the Office of Field Operations, and guidance to the trade community will be timely communicated via the Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS),” it said. “Filers should continue to work with the local port office regarding the movement of goods.”
The legacy Automated Commercial System should remain available for filers following the July 23 mandatory use date for most remaining entry types in ACE, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a letter to CBP dated July 14 (here). Though CBP said it will begin decommissioning ACS on July 23 and the system will be unavailable as a backup (see 1605270002), ACS should remain available in cases of delays resulting from down time, slow processing or software issues, because costs to the trade community would be too great without the ACS fallback option, the NCBFAA said.
U.S. port congestion might be alleviated through creating a supply chain data sharing platform, instituting revolving labor shifts, and potentially implementing a terminal appointment system, industry groups said in response to the Commerce Department’s request for comments on its “21st Century Port Competitiveness Initiative." The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said the federal government should prioritize information sharing to optimize supply chain efficiency. “Data is the new infrastructure,” NCBFAA Vice President of International Transportation Richard Roche said in comments to Commerce (here). “This should be a key area of focus, while keeping security as top priority. Only vetted partners should be able to access, and only those fields specific to their business.” Data enhancements could allow terminals to better forecast orders and offload times, and give more advanced notice of container availability, Roche said.