U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its "Trade Transformation" document on CBP's "BEST" trade plan for 21st century trade. This document has been updated, in part, to provide a flow diagram of the Simplified Entry process in the air cargo environment which depicts filer and carrier actions and CBP's corresponding messaging from pre-departure to arrival. The updated document also provides a general overview and expected next steps for CBP's Simplified Entry initiative.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing that it will provide updates on the programming needed for existing and new ACE functionality at a Software Developer Technical Seminar that will be part of a National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) meeting to be held on March 6-8, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. CBP states that the seminar will target ocean and rail software developers and ABI participants.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a document that lists the cities where the next seven Centers for Excellence and Expertise will be located, as well as the cities where the two existing CEEs for (i) Pharmaceuticals (soon to include Health and Chemicals) and (ii) Electronics (soon to include Information Technology) are located. Note that CBP's document no longer lists customs brokers as a future CEE industry.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted amended recommendations of COAC’s Global Supply Chain Security Land Border Subcommittee. The amended recommendations largely ask CBP to obtain input from affected stakeholders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the following Customs broker licenses and all associated permits are cancelled without prejudice:
At the upcoming February 21, 2012 COAC meeting, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will provide an update on the progress it and NCBFAA have made in their Role of the Broker Workgroup1 plan to allow brokers to pre-certify Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) applicants. Updates are also expected on other planned regulatory changes to expand the role of the customs broker.
In June 2011, the Canada Border Services Agency announced the phased-in timeframe for increasing the number of lines requiring a 10-digit HS code at the time of interim accounting (PARS and RMD requests). CBSA has reposted that notice as effective February 1, a minimum of 20 HS codes have to be reported at the 10-digit level, up from a minimum of 10 HS codes which took effect on September 1, 2011.
In U.S. Customs and Border Protection's January 2012 Trade Account Owner (TAO) Update, CBP stated that the M1 pilot (e-Manifest: Rail and Sea) was currently underway, with the first Automated Broker Interface (ABI) filer to join the pilot during the week of January 30th. However, CBP sources now state the first ABI filer will join the pilot a week later, during the week of February 6, 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on February 21, 2012 in Washington, D.C. Topics to be discussed at the meeting include Air Cargo Advance Screening, the one government at the border initiative, and IPR enforcement. There will be comment opportunities before and during the meeting. The registration deadline to attend or listen to the webcast of the meeting is February 17.
The Government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for January 29-Feb 1, 2012 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):