U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
At the February 21, 2012 COAC meeting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials discussed ongoing work on the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs). They provided information on the post-entry processing CEEs would do for "trusted partners" and the benefits they would receive. CBP officials also stated that CEEs would be virtual ports and that the agency's regulations may need to be amended to "line up" with what the CEEs will do. COAC's Trade Facilitation Subcommittee also listed certain metrics that could be used to measure the success of the CEEs.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc., has posted the following U.S. Customs and Border Protection's presentation documents for the March 6-8, 2012 Trade Software Developer Technical Seminar. During the seminar, CBP officials will discuss programming changes for existing and new functionality scheduled to be delivered as part of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has issued a February 16, 2012 version of its Lacey Act Amendments frequently asked questions (FAQ) document, as the prior version was out of date, had broken links, and had imprecise text. Sources state that APHIS has refined the Importer of Record - Broker Responsibility Q&A to indicate that brokers who complete the paper Lacey Act declaration for imported plants and plant products have the same responsibility for accuracy as they do when filling out entry information. In addition, two Q&As on hand-carried passenger baggage and musical instruments have been added.
At the February 21, 2012 COAC meeting, CBP and COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Subcommittee provided an update on various land border security issues. Officials discussed CBP’s development of C-TPAT for exports, possible Tier 3 status for Mexican and Canadian highway carriers, and the C-TPAT Web Portal 2.0, among other topics.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user guide on In-Bond Authorization for rail and sea carriers. With the deployment of ACE e-Manifest: Rail and Sea (M1), rail and sea carriers will have the ability to create a list of authorized Type 2 In-Bond users in their ACE Secure Data Portal Accounts. This functionality will allow the carrier to control who can obligate their Type 2 custodial bonds (CBP Form 301). Although carriers are not required to utilize this functionality, carriers who choose to control access to their bonds have the ability to indicate the specific ports and lengths of time a carrier or broker is authorized to obligate their bond.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has newly posted the recordings and presentation slides for three webinars that are a part of a series of live trade outreach webinars that CBP hosts and subsequently makes available online. The newly posted webinars include: (1) the PIC Business Case ITDS Report on the use of e-commerce data such as global product numbers and electronic product catalogs; (2) running the new Multi-Modal Manifest Reports in ACE; and (3) Rail and Carrier ACE Portal navigation. Topics of previous webinars available for viewing include the role of the broker, account management restructuring, ACE Post Summary Corrections, simplified entry and financial processes, cargo security risks, ACE courtesy notices of liquidation, etc.
On February 29, 2012, the Justice Department announced that Australian David Levick and his company, ICM Components Inc., have been indicted for conspiring to export sensitive military and other technology from the U.S. to Iran, including components with applications in missiles, drones, torpedoes and helicopters.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that it recently added a new "Trade Transformation" page under its "Trade" section on CBP.gov. The new page provides information on the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEE), Simplified Process, Role of the Broker, contact information for these trade transformation initiatives, and provides a link to the ACE: Modernization Information System page. The Simplified Process page provides information on the Simplified Entry (SE) and Simplified Summary initiatives. CBP has recently updated the SE Pilot Frequently Asked Questions (Technical) document on the Simplified Process page to include more information on the upcoming pilot. The new Trade Transformation page is available here.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues: