The World Customs Organization Permanent Technical Committee has approved a draft of e-commerce technical specifications, and the package will next face review with the Policy Commission in June and the WCO Council soon after, said Ana Hinojosa, WCO director-Compliance and Facilitation. Hinojosa spoke via video at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 17. There are also some discussions on e-commerce planned with the World Trade Organization, she said. "They have invited us to participate in some of their workshops and we're very interested in us to engage in their process as well," she said. "We're hopeful that those conversations will be fruitful and something will come out of that."
Recent Court of International Trade decisions leave the door open for confusion among importers and customs brokers on tariff classification, customs lawyer Larry Friedman said in an April 17 blog post. Though CIT found in an April 8 decision that use is not a consideration when classifying locking pliers imported by Irwin Industrial Tool Company(see 1904100037), it’s still unclear when use should or should not be considered in light of a 2014 Federal Circuit decision that use should be considered when classifying GRK wood screws (see 14080420). Neither tariff provision includes the terms “for use as” or “for use with,” both of which clearly signal a use provision. “Classification is a legal analysis. It is, at the same time, also performed every day by thousands of non-lawyers who are engaged in making compliance decisions for importers large and small,” Friedman said. “Even licensed brokers are not always fully aware of the details of the legal analysis of tariff language. Bright line tests are necessary to facilitate trade and to avoid creating traps for the average importer, for whom the statute is allegedly written in the language or ordinary commerce.”
The World Customs Organization Permanent Technical Committee has approved a draft of e-commerce technical specifications, and the package will next face review with the Policy Commission in June and the WCO Council soon after, said Ana Hinojosa, WCO director-Compliance and Facilitation. Hinojosa spoke via video at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 17. There are also some discussions on e-commerce planned with the World Trade Organization, she said. "They have invited us to participate in some of their workshops and we're very interested in us to engage in their process as well," she said. "We're hopeful that those conversations will be fruitful and something will come out of that."
Companies and individuals who violate New Zealand customs requirements can now be issued a range of instant fines, according to a list of infringement offenses from New Zealand Customs. The list was mentioned in an April 17 notice from Baker McKenzie. The changes were introduced in October as part of the country’s Customs and Excise Act of 2018 but were not implemented until after a six-month “education phase,” according to the notice. They became effective April 1, 2019.
Industry groups and unions continued to react to the International Trade Commission's analysis of the new NAFTA the day after the report was released, with most saying the report confirmed what they already knew.
SAN ANTONIO -- The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau hope to issue their long-awaited proposed regulations on routed export transactions in late spring or early summer, said Sharron Cook, senior policy export analyst at BIS, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference April 17. When they come out, Cook thinks, export forwarders will see two of their bigger headaches with the current regulations on track for resolution.
SAN ANTONIO -- CBP is looking at using "prescriptive analytics" as a way of making the rulings process faster, said Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner-trade, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 17. Such analytics involve a review of the data that "puts out a couple of options for action," she said. While "we don't want a machine doing classification," CBP would like to use technology to improve efficiency on rulings, she said.
SAN ANTONIO -- CBP is combing through its export processes to streamline, automate and harmonize agency review, exams and penalties across the ports, according to Jim Swanson, director of CBP’s cargo and security controls division. Speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference April 17, Swanson said CBP has “incrementally moved the ball” on exports in the past year, but is “on the verge” with “a few things we’re working on diligently.”
SAN ANTONIO -- CBP is already testing multiple suggestions put forth as part of the agency's effort to update its framework, said Brenda Smith, CBP executive assistant commissioner-trade, on April 17 at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference. For example, the agency is "investing in cognitive analytics to protect U.S. business from unfair or illicit trade through more effective risk assessment and targeting," she said. CBP is also working at "providing better data out of ACE," she said.
SAN ANTONIO -- Increasing levels of manual review for filers of Food and Drug Administration regulated goods that fail evaluations should act as a deterrent for non-compliant filers and encourage them to correct issues quickly, said Alex Lopez, director-compliance at FDA’s Division of Southwest Imports, on a panel at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America's annual conference on April 17.