Recent allegations of customs evasion by San Diego customs brokers don't represent the integrity of the profession overall, said the National Customs Brokers and Forwarder Association of America (NCBFAA) in response to federal charges filed against a group of customs brokers. A group of eight individuals, including Gerardo Chavez, president of the San Diego Customs Association (SDCA), and three companies worked to bring in shipments worth at least $100 million, while avoiding more than $10 million in customs duties and taxes, the charges say.
Gerardo Chavez, president of the San Diego Customs Association (SDCA), was among a group charged with conspiracy and fraud for a scheme to avoid customs duties on imported products. A total of eight individuals and three companies worked to bring in shipments worth at least $100 million, while avoiding more than $10 million in customs duties and taxes, according to the filing. Among other things, the group forged Transportation and Entry manifests, dodged Food and Drug Administration inspections, and tried to disguise shipments known to be infected with Salmonella, the federal charges say.
CBP announced the suspension of a Customs broker license and all associated permits pursuant to section 641 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, (19 USC 1641) and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations (19 CFR 111.53). The 30-month suspension is effective July 23. A notice of suspension for broker's license below ran in the Federal Register July 25.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
July 24-25 American Conference Institute forum on ITAR compliance, Fairmont Washington, Washington, D.C. -- 888-224-2480
CBP posted a July version of its list of trade benefits for participants in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by industry segment. Specific benefits are listed for Customs brokers, importers, self-filers, sureties, carriers, trade account owners (TAOs), as well as all users with portal accounts, for (1) ACE Secure Data Portal, (2) Periodic Monthly Statement, (3) ACE Reports, (4) Simplified Entry, (5) Entry Summary Filing(6) Document Image System, (7) Post Summary Corrections, (8) e-Manifest: Truck and (9) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea. The July version includes two new sections, Simplified Entry (SE) and Document Image System (DIS), that weren't in the previous version.
July 2-13 WCO Knowledge Academy for Customs and Trade, WCO Headquarters, Brussels -- http://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/index.php?eventid=40460&
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
Federal Maritime Commission said the following have filed applications for a license as a Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVO) and/or Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF)-Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984 (here). Interested persons may contact the Office of Transportation Intermediaries, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573, at 202-523-5843 or at OTI@fmc.gov.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 2-6 in case they were missed last week.