RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- Lawyers are seeing a rise in cases filed against customs brokers for failing to meet their fiduciary duties, said Cameron Roberts, a Roberts & Kehagiaras trade attorney. Many of the cases involve importers who allege their brokers didn’t correctly advise them about issues related to forced labor, Section 301 tariffs and certain agriculture imports, he said. “All of these issues are being put at the foot of the broker,” Roberts said, speaking during the Oct. 15 Western Cargo Conference.
RANCHO MIRAGE, California -- Lawyers are seeing a rise in cases filed against customs brokers for failing to meet their fiduciary duties, said Cameron Roberts, a Roberts & Kehagiaras trade attorney. Many of the cases involve importers who allege their brokers didn’t correctly advise them about issues related to forced labor, Section 301 tariffs and certain agriculture imports, he said. “All of these issues are being put at the foot of the broker,” Roberts said, speaking during the Oct. 15 Western Cargo Conference.
Nicole Bivens Collinson, who leads the lobbying arm of the Sandler Travis law firm, is the new legislative counsel for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the firm said. Collinson will take over from the association's previous Washington counsel, Whitmer and Worrall, which earned around $30,000 per quarter from lobbying on behalf of the NCBFAA, according to the two most recent quarterly disclosures filed this year. The NCBFAA recently named Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman the group's general counsel, adding to his ongoing role as customs counsel (see 2110010053).
Nicole Bivens Collinson, who leads the lobbying arm of the Sandler Travis law firm, is the new legislative counsel for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the firm said. Collinson will take over from the association's previous Washington counsel, Whitmer and Worrall, which earned around $30,000 per quarter from lobbying on behalf of the NCBFAA, according to the two most recent quarterly disclosures filed this year. The NCBFAA recently named Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman the group's general counsel, adding to his ongoing role as customs counsel (see 2110010053).
Nicole Bivens Collinson, who leads the lobbying arm of the Sandler Travis law firm, is the new legislative counsel for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the firm said. Collinson will take over from the association's previous Washington counsel, Whitmer and Worrall, which earned around $30,000 per quarter from lobbying on behalf of the NCBFAA, according to the two most recent quarterly disclosures filed this year. The NCBFAA recently named Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman the group's general counsel, adding to his ongoing role as customs counsel (see 2110010053).
An importer’s lawsuit against its customs broker for the broker’s alleged failure to stay on top of issues related to some FDA-regulated entries will continue, after a judge of the Western Washington U.S. District Court declined to halt the discovery process in the case. The broker says its terms and conditions cut its liability to a mere $200, but the judge said the importer’s arguments that those liability limits are invalid could be bolstered by more evidence.
An importer’s lawsuit against its customs broker for the broker’s alleged failure to stay on top of issues related to some FDA-regulated entries will continue, after a judge of the Western Washington U.S. District Court declined to halt the discovery process in the case. The broker says its terms and conditions cut its liability to a mere $200, but the judge said the importer’s arguments that those liability limits are invalid could be bolstered by more evidence.
CBP plans to deploy a new bill form that will allow for the option to "electronically view certain bills, specifically supplemental bills, certain reimbursable bills, and non-reimbursable/miscellaneous bills," the agency said in an Oct. 13 notice. A new ACE report will "allow importers of record, licensed customs brokers, and other ACE account users to electronically view unpaid, open bills starting at the time that physical bills are created until the bills are paid," it said. CBP plans to "transition from the current bill format, known as CBP Form 6084, to a new CBP Bill Form that is enhanced to include additional information for the public. CBP's adoption of the new CBP Bill Form will enable the public to identify the legal authority for the bill, the origin of the bill, contact information for additional questions about the bill, and the consequences for not paying the bill." The new form and the electronic viewing option will be available as of Oct. 18.
A bill that would add more data elements a year after passage to the Seafood Import Monitoring Program passed out of the Natural Resources Committee by voice vote Oct. 13. The bill's authors recently received a letter from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America saying that the bill would be "crushing to the import process." The letter, sent Oct. 8, also said, "No one wants illegal or fraudulent seafood, or seafood produced by forced labor, to enter the United States. Certainly, our industry is strongly committed to safe and legally compliant supply chains. Compliance is what we do. The challenge is: how best to ensure integrity in seafood supply chains. SIMP already collects more data at entry than just about any other agency for 1,100 species of seafood."
A customs broker exam taker who is appealing his failing score is asking the Court of International Trade to overturn CBP’s denial of credit for seven questions from the April 2018 test. In a brief filed Oct. 1, Byungmin Chae says CBP erroneously graded his customs broker exam, denying him a broker license on its mistaken finding that he did not score 75 percent or higher.