U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an administrative message on the automation of the Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BFTA) in the Automated Commercial System (ACS).
Shippers' NewsWire reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham spoke at the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America's (NCBFAA) Government Affairs Conference and emphasized that he understands the importance of international trade to the economic security of the country and pledged to get the manpower to improve the speed of shipments across the border. Basham also acknowledged that developing the multibillion-dollar Secure Border Initiative (SBI) on the Southwest border has been at the expense of import/export facilitation, cargo security, and other traditional activities. (American Shipper, dated 09/19/06, www.americanshipper.com)
(BP is reissuing its summary of this CBP guide, which appeared in the September 18, 2006 ITT, 06091805, in order to delete all of CBP's references to Truck AMS (Automated Manifest System), as AMS is under ACS, and CBP's E-Manifest: Truck, though also an automated system, is under ACE (the Automated Commercial Environment). Other conforming changes are also made to BP's summary.)
(BP will be reissuing its summary of this CBP guide in order to delete all of CBP's references to Truck AMS (Automated Manifest System), as AMS is under ACS, and CBP's E-Manifest: Truck, though also an automated system, is under the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Other conforming changes will also made. The corrected summary is expected to appear in the September 19, 2006 issue of ITT.)
Customs may pursue multiple broker penalties that in total exceed $30,000. In U.S. v. UPS Customshouse Brokerage, Inc., dba UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc., the Court of International Trade (CIT) gave Chevron deference to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's interpretation of the statutory phrase "a monetary penalty not to exceed $30,000 in total for a violation or violations of" in 19 USC 1641(d)(2)(A).
During the August 3, 2006 meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials discussed, among other things, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted various notices to its Web site as follows:
CBP has posted to its Web site a memorandum announcing that imports of ethyl alcohol from countries belonging to the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), that previously had tariff rate quota (TRQ) benefits under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA), may now be processed in the Automatic Broker Interface (ABI) system using the special program indicator (SPI) "P."
According to an Associated Press article, on September 7, 2006, Senators announced agreement on port security legislation which resembles legislation passed by the House of Representatives in May 2006. Since September 7, 2006, the Senate has been considering its own version of H.R. 4954, the Safe Port Act. (See ITT's Online Archives or 05/18/06 news, 06051810, for the final part of BP's summary of the House's passage of H.R. 4954.)(Associated Press article, dated 09/07/06, available at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ports_security;_ylt=AiR59Lax2VqUX19Hc94WH6ms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published an updated list of ports that accept the electronic CBP Form 214 (e214, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Admission and/or Status Designation) in lieu of a paper copy.