In a January 26, 2012 posting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection states it is currently spearheading two projects to modernize the role of the broker: (1) Broker Pre-Certification and (2) Broker Regulation Redesign. The key concepts of this initiative are to leverage broker relationships to extend the opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to be recognized as trusted partners, while also allowing for established “best practices” within the industry.
FTC Commissioner Julie Brill urged online companies to implement “reasonable security safeguards,” better transparency, and “important privacy principles” or face FTC scrutiny. The warning came in a Thursday speech to the National Cybersecurity Alliance. An FTC spokeswoman told us separately that the commission plans to release its final privacy report “in the next few weeks.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice containing the trade contact information for the Pharmaceuticals and Electronics Centers for Excellence and Expertise, which have been renamed the "Industry Integration Center for Pharmaceuticals, Health & Chemicals CEE" and the "Information Technology and Consumer Electronics CEE" to show an upcoming expansion of their product scope.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a correction to a prior memorandum and administrative message on the bond requirements for informal entries, to indicate that a single transaction bond may be used as an alternative to a continuous bond, if filers opt to use a CBP Form 3461 followed by an entry summary.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted information on the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) User Requirements provided in the Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) documentation. The CATAIR provides complete information describing how importers and/or their agents can become ABI participants, as well as how they can provide electronic import information to ABI, and receive transmissions from ABI once they have become a participant.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection for field operations at the Port of New York/Newark has issued an Informational Pipeline to inform the trade community of some logistical issues it has encountered since the commencement of the consolidated Centralized Examination Station (CES) process on January 9, 2012. The Pipeline states that incorrect bill of lading (BOL) transmissions have caused cargo for examination to be sent to erroneous Centralized Examination Station (CES) sites.
The South Korean Customs Service (KCS) has reset the launch date for its Advance Manifest System (AMS) to spring/summer 2012. Although the KCS Web site states that its AMS would be launched on December 1, 2011, a number of major carriers indicate that AMS has been postponed until April 1, 2012 for air/ocean exports from Korea and June 1, 2012 for air imports to Korea (some sources indicate this date also applies to ocean imports to Korea, some do not)1. Highlights of AMS guidelines issued by Korean Customs in September 2011 include:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has recently revised information on its website to indicate that the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) for the pharmaceuticals and electronics industries have been renamed as the "Industry Integration Center for Pharmaceuticals, Health & Chemicals CEE" and the "Information Technology and Consumer Electronics CEE" to show an upcoming expansion of their product scope. Sources add that the Pharmaceuticals CEE will be expanded to cover all chemicals and health equipment (e.g. wheelchairs). CBP also plans to create CEEs for an additional eight industries over the next three years.
This is a reminder that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a frequently asked questions and answers document to provide guidance to licensed Customs brokers on the submission of the Triennial Status Report and fee. The next triennial status report, in addition to the $100 fee, should be filed by February 29, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted presentation slides on its "Trade Transformation" initiatives for 21st century trade. Within the slides, CBP states that it seeks to improve cargo security while increasing trade competitiveness by fully aggregating risk management. According to CBP, it will accomplish this by leveraging end-to-end visibility of accounts that captures a holistic view of the global supply chain through the use of its "BEST" goals.