PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- CBP is planning a number of major changes to its approach to broker management, moving such work away from individual ports and to the Centers of Excellence and Expertise, said Richard Wortman, a lawyer with Grunfeld Desiderio who spoke at the Western Cargo Conference Oct. 17. Headquarters will continue to have overall control, but the legwork will be handled at the CEEs across the country, he said. Wortman discussed broker management changes and a number of other expected updates being contemplated as part of revisions to customs broker regulations.
The Federal Communications Commission will temporarily waive its Form 740 certification requirements for radio frequency (RF) devices imported after CBP's Automated Commercial Environment becomes mandatory for FCC entries on July 1, it said in an order issued Oct. 19 (here). The waiver, which will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2016, allows time for the FCC to consider its proposal to eliminate importer declaration requirements entirely (see 1508110024), without imposing “significant burdens” on importers that would otherwise be forced to file on paper once ACE is required, the FCC said. Given the complexity of the FCC rulemaking, it’s possible the commission will be “unable to reach and publish a final determination” by July 1, when CBP will no longer accept electronic filing of FCC Form 740 via its legacy Automated Commercial System, it said.
Nearly two dozen customs broker and importer associations and retail organizations banded together in recent days to press U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to support the addition of travel goods to the Generalized System of Preferences. Industry petitions for those additions were due by Oct. 16 as part of USTR’s 2015 annual review for GSP (see 1508180027).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 5-9 in case they were missed.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is now considering alternative ways CBP can support the continued presence of a sufficient number of licensed brokers in customs business, with the agency so far unreceptive to the NCBFAA’s broker employment ratio proposal, said Alan Klestadt of Grunfeld Desiderio in an interview on Oct. 9. Among the options under consideration is a possible policy statement from CBP that the agency would consider the number of licensed brokers employed when making decisions on penalty mitigation, said Klestadt, who is the NCBFAA's customs counsel.
Ken Bargteil retired as vice president at Kuehne + Nagel as of Oct. 1. Bargteil, who will continue as chair of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America’s Educational Institute Subcommittee and chairman emeritus of the group’s Customs Committee, worked 42 years in the brokerage industry, 36 of which at Kuehne + Nagel.
Leaders of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees should quickly finalize a customs reauthorization bill to allow the benefits to take effect ahead of the holiday season, said a group of trade associations in a Oct. 1 letter (here). The groups, including the Express Association of America, the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization and the Chamber of Commerce, said without the trade facilitation provisions of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (TFTEA), there's a greater risk of "of a total breakdown" in shipment processing. Lawmakers should finish the bill and send it to President Barack Obama for signature by the end of October, the groups said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 28 - Oct. 2 in case they were missed.
Despite some recent hang-ups for CBP's plans to update regulations governing customs brokers, Troy Riley, executive director of CBP's Office of Commercial Targeting and Enforcement, is hopeful that the agency will put out an official request for comments on proposed changes by the end of 2015, he said in an Oct. 2 interview. The inclusion of a required ratio of licensed customs broker employees remains uncertain, but is unlikely to continue to hold up the proposal, said Riley. The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America previously asked CBP to add a requirement that national permit holders should employ at least one licensed customs broker for every 12 employees (see 14072222).
Reaction from Capitol Hill on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement ranged from defiant to laudatory, though most said further review is needed ahead of any conclusion. Notably, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., were among the lawmakers that were quick to voice concerns with the deal. Any trade deal would need final approval from Congress before implementation and the likelihood of such approval remains an open question (see 1509160068). Industry trade associations also withheld judgment until the final text is released but were generally supportive of the deal.