The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating the surcharge practices of eight ocean carriers after receiving industry complaints that the carriers have “improperly” imposed fees, the commission said Aug. 4. The carriers -- CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Matson, MSC, OOCL, SM Line and Zim -- have until Aug. 13 to respond to questions by the FMC’s Bureau of Enforcement and to “provide details that confirm any surcharges were instituted properly and in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations.”
The Federal Maritime Commission is investigating the surcharge practices of eight ocean carriers after receiving industry complaints that the carriers have “improperly” imposed fees, the commission said Aug. 4. The carriers -- CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, Matson, MSC, OOCL, SM Line and Zim -- have until Aug. 13 to respond to questions by the FMC’s Bureau of Enforcement and to “provide details that confirm any surcharges were instituted properly and in accordance with legal and regulatory obligations.”
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from July 26-30 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A permanent extension to the policy that protected customs brokers from having clawbacks as a result of their customers' bankruptcies was proposed by Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., on July 29. Currently, the duties that brokers transfer to CBP are not treated as vendor payments, so they are not subject to clawback provisions under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, whereby payments to vendors within 90 days can be seized by the bankruptcy courts for redistribution. But that change expires at the end of the year (see 2012210045).
Federal regulations don't prohibit the use of electronic signatures for a customs broker power of attorney, but some state regulations governing agency relationships may, CBP told the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a July 16 ruling posted by the NCBFAA. Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman requested a ruling from CBP on behalf of the NCBFAA on the validity of electronically signed POAs. CBP previously said it was working on the issue (see 2103040012).
CBP will increase Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act fees in fiscal year 2022 by 11.009% to adjust for inflation, the agency said in a notice. Affected fees include the merchandise processing fee, vessel and truck arrival fees and the customs broker permit user fee. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, passed in 2015, required that CBP make inflation adjustments and fee limitations when deemed necessary (see 1512040024). The increases are effective Oct. 1.
CBP’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s full Export Modernization White Paper includes a range of appendices that provide greater insight into how CBP and the COAC envision export modernization. The 127-page paper, originally issued as an abbreviated 24-page version in June, defines the roles and responsibilities of parties in the export process, dives further into export modernization recommendations and includes a range of areas in the Foreign Trade Regulations that will likely be revised. The other appendices include an analysis of Electronic Export Information data elements, information on post-departure filing and other documents produced by the COAC’s working groups.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from July 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.
Federal regulations don't prohibit the use of electronic signatures for a customs broker power of attorney, but some state regulations governing agency relationships may, CBP told the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a July 16 ruling posted by the NCBFAA. Sandler Travis lawyer Lenny Feldman requested a ruling from CBP on behalf of the NCBFAA on the validity of electronically signed POAs. CBP previously said it was working on the issue (see 2103040012).
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is backing CBP's proposed use of Part 102 marking rules to determine the country of origin for non-preferential claims under USMCA (see 2107010045), the trade group said in a July 27 email. CBP proposes to use NAFTA's Part 102 tariff shift marking rules for determining country of origin for non-preferential USMCA claims and government procurement. Some have wondered whether the proposal will prove to be controversial (see 2107070011 and 2107080040).