U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued the May 2004 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modernization newsletter, which is highlighted below:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message (Adm: 04-1427) announcing that the Automated Commercial System (ACS) was to be brought down for approximately three hours, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EDT, on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 in order to accommodate emergency maintenance.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule, effective July 6, 2004, which amends 21 CFR Parts 1, 10, and 16 to provide procedures for the administrative detention of an article of food, if an officer or qualified employee of the FDA has credible evidence or information indicating that such article presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a press release announcing that beginning on June 4, 2004 at 6 a.m. the third phase of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) discretionary enforcement plan for the prior notice (PN) requirements of the Bioterrorism Act will be implemented.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice announcing that its Office of Field Operations and its Office of Information and Technology are in the process of conducting various public meetings at several of the major land borders across the U.S to present the major provisions of its regulations and policies on the advance electronic presentation of information for inbound truck cargo and to answer questions from affected parties.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) makes available on its Web site a complete list of its informed compliance publications (ICP), including a pdf file for each publication.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a new Trade Support Network (TSN) committee Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) user requirement recommendation and an updated ACE Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) message draft.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc. (NCBFAA) submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which highlight certain issues it believes should be taken into consideration in drafting the final rules on prior notice of imported food and food facility registration.
On May 14, 2004, the General Accounting Office (GAO) submitted to the Homeland Security Subcommittees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees a report entitled "Information Technology - Early Releases of Customs Trade System Operating, but Pattern of Cost and Schedule Problems Needs to be Addressed."
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an ABI administrative message announcing that it is delaying the installation of programming changes for enforcement of the Bioterrorism Act's Prior Notice (PN) requirements in its automated systems that were scheduled to become effective the morning of May 19, 2004. CBP states that these changes would have made failure to submit all mandatory PN data elements a cause for rejection by the Automated Broker Interface (ABI).