Inchape Shipping Services' customs brokerage can now provide service across all North American ports following CBP's recent approval of a national broker permit for ISS Brokerage Services, the company said in a news release. ISS also said it named Theresa Bennington to be brokerage manager for North America.
Akin Gump posted a summary of some of the major parts of customs reauthorization legislation (here) that was recently passed by Congress and is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama (see 1602120029). The summary includes sections on new penalties for customs brokers, changes to drawback procedures, intellectual property rights protections and information requirements for importers of record. The outline also includes information on potentially quickly moving changes to de minimis levels, which "shall apply with respect to articles entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after the 15th day after the date of the enactment."
President Barack Obama intends to sign the comprehensive customs reauthorization legislation passed by the Senate on Feb. 11 (see 1602110018), White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement (here). Despite some concerns with the legislation's mention of Israel, the bill's "passage is an important milestone in our overall trade agenda," Earnest said of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. Among other things, the legislation (here) increases the de minimis level, directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to draft new importer of record regulations, fixes tariffs for recreational performance outerwear, and updates reliquidation procedures.
The conference report of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, HR-644, passed the Senate on Feb. 11 by a landslide vote of 75-20, marking a major step toward reauthorizing CBP and changing a number of customs processes. The House passed the conference report in December (see 1512110029), and Senate approval means the bill will next go to President Barack Obama, who hasn't raised any objections. Industry and lawmaker reactions to the approval of the bill, which would go into effect 180 days after the President signs it into law, was largely positive.
The Senate voted 75-20 on Feb. 11 to approve the conference report of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (HR-644), a major step toward reauthorizing CBP and changing a number of customs processes. The House passed the conference report in December, and Senate approval means the bill will next go to President Barack Obama, who hasn't raised any objections. Several provisions in the bill would take effect 180 days after Obama signs it into law.
CBP will begin accepting applications on Feb. 10 from customs brokers and self-filing importers that want to participate in a pilot to test electronic filing of Toxic Substances Control Act certifications required by the Environmental Protection Agency, it said (here). Participants in the pilot, which will be in operation for all commodities at all ports, will file TSCA certifications via EPA’s partner government agency (PGA) message set in the Automated Commercial Environment, said CBP.
The Department of Homeland Security issued on Feb. 5 final regulations setting supplemental standards of ethical conduct for its employees. The agency’s final rule (here) includes provisions requiring employees to report allegations of waste, fraud and abuse. For CBP employees, it prohibits any employment or activities in support of or on behalf of a customs broker, carrier, bonded warehouse, foreign-trade zone board, cartman, customs law firm, or business related to importation, exportation or agriculture matters related to CBP’s mission. It also requires any CBP employee to report to CBP if their spouse or dependent is engaged in such activities.
CBP should adopt a “soft mandated” approach to its Feb. 28 Automated Commercial Environment deadline for cargo release entry types 01, 03 and 11, keeping the Automated Commercial System online as a fallback, and delay the deadline for both cargo release and entry summary for all other entry types until 90 days after programming has been finalized, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a letter to agency officials dated Feb. 2 (here).
More changes are on the way for the Food and Drug Administration’s supplemental guide for filing in the Automated Commercial Environment, but the changes are meant to ease, not add to the burden on industry, said Sandra Abbott, director of FDA’s Division of Compliance Systems, during a webinar hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America on Feb. 3. The basic data elements that will become mandatory Feb. 28 are set, but FDA still needs to fix bugs that are causing hiccups for filers, she said.
The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing new filing requirements at time of entry for imports of certain species of seafood the agency has deemed high-risk (here). Conceived as part of an administration-wide strategy to combat illegal, unreported and unregistered (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud (see 1503160016), filers would have to submit through the Automated Commercial Environment certain data elements and electronic documents in order to improve traceability of imports of the high-risk species. The importer of record would also have to maintain records on the chain of custody of their seafood imports, and obtain an International Fisheries Trade Permit for the high-risk species. Comments on the proposal are due April 5.