The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely on Dec. 16, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Dec. 15.
CBP has identified three primary goals for the 21st Century Customs Framework, which has the potential to upend the approach to customs processing, said Maranda Kan, acting director of trade modernization, Office of Trade. Those goals are: “to achieve end-to-end supply chain transparency; to drive data-centric decision-making; and to diversify reasonable care standards,” she told a virtual U.S. Fashion Industry Association event Nov. 10.
CBP has some qualms with the operational aspects of ending the de minimis exemption for goods subject to Section 301 tariffs, Executive Assistant Commissioner for International Trade Brenda Smith said while speaking on the virtual Coalition of New England Companies for Trade conference on Nov. 9. There's a CBP proposal for the change that's under Office of Management and Budget review (see 2009040026). “We do have some concerns,” she said.
CBP's information collection for commercial invoices “indicates that there is a transaction with a price already agreed upon that the foreign seller and U.S. buyer will pay,” but that's not always true, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to CBP on a proposed extension of the information collection (see 2009290038). “There often are shipments that are consigned, leased, etc. where the parties have not established a price to be paid and other commercial invoice information may not be available,” the association said. NCBFAA suggested that CBP's regulations should instead “require all the information normally provided on a commercial invoice on an as needed basis and when appropriate to the transaction.”
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CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
A payment of $150.33 for the annual Customs Broker Permit User Fee is due by Jan. 29, CBP said in an Oct. 28 notice.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Oct. 19-23 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP is seeking public comment on whether to impose continuing education requirements on licensed customs brokers, it said in a notice released Oct. 27. The notice, an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, is the latest development in the long-discussed idea of adding such requirements (see 2002130025). CBP's notice goes over a number of possible scenarios for how continuing education could be administered and asks for input on a wide range of operational questions.
CBP will be holding a “retest” for people who experienced technical difficulties during the Oct. 8 customs broker license exam, said Melba Hubbard, CBP branch chief, Broker Management, Commercial Operations Revenue & Entry Division. Hubbard spoke during the virtual Western Cargo Conference Oct. 23. CBP previously mentioned some issues reported by test takers (see 2010200041), but said those issues didn't affect most of the people taking the test. The problems involved the “electronic references,” and CBP “will be providing a retest for those individuals, coming in 2021,” she said. Hubbard also said that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CBP is planning to send broker licenses directly to brokers rather than requiring them to pick them up from a CBP office.