The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to provide clarity on how the agency is interpreting the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and how it effects those involved in international trade. NCBFAA General Counsel Ed Greenberg of GKG Law submitted the Nov. 14 filing with FMCSA. The filing specifically requests information from FMCSA on how the agency is interpreting the MAP-21 statutory exemptions from bonding and registration requirements for customs brokers, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), and indirect air carriers.
Prior disclosures of customs violations don’t protect companies from False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuits, said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado in a brief filed Nov. 8. The government filed the brief as part of a lawsuit brought by Colorado customs broker Bonnie Jimenez against her former employer OtterBox. Jimenez alleges OtterBox knowingly failed to include assists in the transaction value of cellphone cases it imported from China over a five-year period (see 13100701). She says she repeatedly warned top management at the company, and was eventually fired for her trouble. As the whistleblower in a False Claims Act case, Jimenez stands to share in the proceeds if the Colorado U.S. District Court assesses penalties and damages against OtterBox. The U.S. government hasn’t intervened in the lawsuit, and declined to take a position on OtterBox’s alleged misdeeds in its brief. But it said OtterBox’s prior disclosure did not begin a formal CBP penalty proceeding, and doesn’t preclude Jimenez’ whistleblower suit.
Cargo processing delays and exams continued to be the largest challenge faced by importers and brokers, according to the second annual trade efficiency survey, which was released Nov. 8 by CBP. The survey, completed in July by the Advisory Committee On Commercial Operations (COAC), is meant to be a look at CBP's trade facilitation efforts and success at lowering costs of compliance. The retroactive system of antidumping/countervailing duty orders seems to have a disproportionate effect on the trade industry considering the amount of discussion and controversy the issue creates, the survey said. The survey was among a large set of COAC materials released by CBP (see 13111227).
CBP posted its draft agenda and 23 other documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on Nov. 15, which include the results of the 2013 trade efficiency survey, draft recommendations, and other documents on trade modernization, the global supply chain, trade enforcement and other topics. The draft agenda is (here). The trade survey (here) will be summarized in more detail in a future issue of ITT.
Some major questions on a requirement for proof of importer identity that should be obtained by customs brokers remain unresolved within a CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) subcommittee focused on the issue, it said. The issue of which importer bona fides should be required information for customs brokers is being considered as part of CBP's trade modernization efforts, which include an overhaul to the regulations for customs brokers in 19 CFR Part 111 (see 12062211). The COAC Role of the Broker Working Group started actively working on the bona fides issue in July, said a report from CBP released ahead of the Nov. 15 COAC meeting.
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The longer the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) expiration continues, the less likely renewal legislation will include retroactivity provisions, said Marideth Sandler, CEO of Sandler Trade, during a Nov. 7 webinar on GSP. The webinar was co-sponsored by Sandler Trade, the Alliance of GSP Countries and the Coalition for GSP. Despite routine implementation of GSP duty retroactivity dating back to the program’s 1976 inception, political concerns render retroactivity uncertain, said Sandler.
NEWTON, Mass. -- CBP and other federal agencies with a role in trade have been taking a look at operations during October's federal government shutdown, and will apply the lessons learned in the event of another hiatus, said Richard DiNucci, acting assistant commissioner at CBP's Office of International Trade, at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade's Northeast Cargo Symposium on Nov. 7. The Environmental Protection Agency in particular was singled out for its failure to process Notices of Arrival required for pesticide shipments during the shutdown, he said. As a result, EPA is not only rethinking its shutdown procedures, but its entire Notice of Arrival system.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 28-Nov. 1 in case they were missed.
Customs brokers and importer self-filers in CBP's Simplified Entry pilot will no longer be required to have Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) status to test the program, CBP said in a notice. The agency is expanding the pilot program and officially rebranding it as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release test, said CBP.