U.S. Customs and Border Protection is withdrawing its October 2010 proposed rule that would have amended CBP regulations to state that customs brokers are allowed to disclose certain information regarding client (importer) records under certain conditions. CBP says the proposed rule received opposition from customs brokers, so CBP is withdrawing it effective March 26, for further consideration.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
On March 14, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration launched its online Import Trade Auxiliary Communications System (ITACS) which allows the trade to: (i) check the FDA status of specific entries/lines; (2) submit entry documentation and link them to specific entries/lines; and (3) submit availability information for targeted shipments. FDA has posted a presentation on ITACS, which covers its system requirements, benefits, future functionality, and a "walkthrough" of current functionality. FDA sources stated that anyone with the shipment's entry number could submit entry documents using ITACS, and noted that there were no plans to integrate ITACS with ACE.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has listed the 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) Entry Summary Filing, (5) Post Summary Corrections, (6) e-Manifest: Truck and (7) e-Manifest: Rail and Sea.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the following individual Customs broker licenses and any and all associated permits have been canceled due to the death of the broker:
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 12 - March 16, 2012 in case they were missed last week.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the following Customs broker licenses and all associated permits are canceled without prejudice:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued its ranking of priority ACE projects, including those that are in the works and planned. According to CBP, the development of DIS, PGA Message Set, PGA Interoperability, and some Export work is fully funded and Cargo Release/Simplified Entry is partially funded. After that, unless future funding is available for the continuous development of new capacities, ACE development work will cease.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted instructions and information on how to obtain a replacement of a previously issued refund check for those who have recently received a letter from the agency indicating that a CBP issued refund was returned to the U.S. Treasury as undeliverable and was canceled. CBP's instructions provide information on how to update an address with CBP, as well as how to receive a replacement check through Automated Clearinghouse (ACH).
The Food and Drug Administration is announcing the Import Trade Auxiliary Communication System (ITACS) for use by the import trade community to improve communication with FDA. ITACS provides the import trade community with three functions: (1) the ability to check on the status of an entry, (2) the ability to submit entry documentation electronically, and (3) the ability to submit goods availability information for targeted shipments electronically.