Argentina recently updated its authorized economic operator program to allow importers, exporters, customs brokers and other trade operators to join the program electronically, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council reported Dec. 1. The program, which is now in line with World Customs Organization parameters, provides certain traders with benefits during customs procedures, inspections and other port and shipping activities.
House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said the $800 de minimis threshold amounts to a huge loophole, and he's going to propose major changes to the law. He said that millions of packages a day enter the U.S. under de minimis, and "nobody's monitoring it. We don't know what's forced labor, what has circumvented intellectual property, counterfeit goods, drugs. CBP's getting better, but who can monitor millions of packages a day?"
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 22-26 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should clarify that certain hospitals affiliated with entries on the Entity List are not subject to Entity list restrictions, said Tory Tibor, global head of trade compliance for medical device company Olympus. Tibor said the clarification would help address confusion among third parties, including forwarders, about what types of entities are captured by Entity List controls.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from Nov. 15-19 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
A payment of $153.19 for the annual customs broker permit user fee is due by Jan. 31, 2022, CBP said in a notice released Nov. 22.
Plans to update statutory language to allow for CBP to use advance cargo data "for any lawful purpose" is an early area of concern among trade groups that submitted comments to the office of Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., about a draft customs modernization bill (see 2111030039). That provision "is a significant amendment to the Trade Act of 2002 manifest requirements and will present a challenge regarding how the agency will merge and crosscheck data received from multiple parties," the Express Association of America told Cassidy, EAA Executive Director Michael Mullen said by email.
Comments filed in response to CBP's proposal to require 36 hours of continuing education every three years for customs brokers were largely supportive and suggested only minor tweaks. As of Nov 16, there were 70 comments posted to the docket, which closed Nov. 9. Several of the filings copied language from the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America submission (see 2111010040).
Cross-border transaction attorney Robert Kossick has joined Harris Bricken's Washington, D.C.-based international trade practice, the firm announced. A licensed customs broker, Kossick has experience in "import compliance and enforcement, export control and economic sanction, and supply chain security issues," Harris Bricken said. Kossick has worked at a variety of firms in Florida, Texas and Washington state, as well as internationally, over the past 25 years.
A new dwelling fee on containers at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports should not be passed on to importers, said Noel Hacegaba, chief operating officer of the Port of Long Beach. Hacegaba was speaking to the U.S. Fashion Industry Association virtual conference, during a Nov. 10 panel on the supply chain.