The Federal Maritime Commission extended the comment period by 30 days for a proposed rulemaking to add new licensing and financial requirements to Ocean Transportation Intermediaries (OTIs), the agency said in a notice. The proposed rules would create some additional licensing requirements for OTIs, somewhat similar to what is required of customs brokers, and increase the bonding requirements. (see 13053031). The extension came in response to a request from the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA), said the FMC. While the NCBFAA requested a 60-day extension, the FMC decided to give a 30-day extension, it said. Comments on the proposal are now due Aug. 30.
The review of financial details including CBP entry and entry summary forms in order to verify billing is considered to be "customs business" and therefore would require a licensed customs broker, said CBP in a June 28 ruling. CBP addressed the issue in HQ H167815 at the request of DHL Americas, which inquired in 2011 about billing verification activities used to resolve Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) billing disputes.
CBP released the agenda for the Aug. 7 meeting with the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) in Washington, D.C. CBP also said the meeting will be available online and registration is available (here).
Convicted arms trafficker and Georgian national Ioseb Kharabadze, 60, was deported on July 12 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations, according to ICE. Kharabadze was convicted in July 2007 for conspiring to smuggle surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missile systems, 120mm mortar launchers and other high powered weapons from Europe into the U.S., ICE said. He was sentenced in March 2009 to 60 months for conspiring to traffic firearms and 48 months for brokering activities.
National leadership is failing to spur deployment of faster broadband networks, stakeholders said Tuesday during a Washington event hosted by Google and the Internet Society’s Washington chapter. The discussion focused on how to encourage communities to develop gigabit networks as well as the challenges and shortcomings associated with that. Speakers emphasized the importance of municipalities, and discussed policy flaws on the federal level.
National leadership is failing to spur deployment of faster broadband networks, stakeholders said Tuesday during a Washington event hosted by Google and the Internet Society’s Washington chapter. The discussion focused on how to encourage communities to develop gigabit networks as well as the challenges and shortcomings associated with that. Speakers emphasized the importance of municipalities, and discussed policy flaws on the federal level.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 8-12 in case they were missed.
CBP is correcting its regulations to add a sentence about the timing of the customs broker exam, it said in a notice. CBP is adding the following sentence to 19 CFR Section 111.13(b): "Written examinations will be given on the first Monday in April and October unless the regularly scheduled examination date conflicts with a national holiday, religious observance, or other foreseeable event and the agency publishes in the FEDERAL REGISTER an appropriate notice of a change in the examination date."
The National Customs Broker and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) came to the defense of the customs broker industry following the recent sentencing of a president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association for evading customs duties for importers (see 13070525). "While it is unfortunate that Mr. Chavez was the president of the San Diego Customs Brokers Association, that fact is certainly not an indictment on the other good, hardworking firms who are members of that association or the industry as a whole," said NCBFAA President Darrell Sekin in a statement. "It is a profession that works closely with Customs and Border Protection and other U.S. agencies on an ongoing basis to help insure that goods entering the commerce of the United States meet the letter of U.S. law. Customs brokers throughout the U.S. help to guide importers through the many intricacies involved in importing including issues involving intellectual property rights, antidumping, marking, Food and Drug Administration requirements, and the regulations of many other government agencies. We support the removal of bad actors from the international trade community, whether they be customs brokers, customs officials, or any others who would seek to illegally introduce articles into the commerce of the United States.”
CBP adopted an amendment to its regulations that would add recordkeeping requirements for U.S. exports of rough diamonds and include additional information on requirements for rough diamond import and export. CBP will now require any U.S. persons exporting from the U.S. a shipment of rough diamonds to retain a copy of the Kimberley Process Certificate accompanying each shipment for at least five years from the date of export and make the copy available for examination at the request of CBP, the agency said in a notice. CBP added to its regulations the requirements of diamond importing/exporting contained in the Treasury Department's Rough Diamonds Control Regulations (RDCR) (31 CFR part 592).