CBP posted a single-page fact sheet on supply chain due diligence for importers to help avoid involvement with goods made by forced labor (here). "To combat the risks of child and forced labor in your operations and global supply chains, you should have a comprehensive and transparent social compliance system in place," CBP said. Among resources listed by CBP are the Labor Department's guidance on setting up a social compliance system (here), CBP rulings and the use of supply chain audits. Importers also may "obtain advice from a customs expert," CBP said. "For example, a licensed customs broker, customs/international trade attorney, or customs consultant." The agency is in the process of writing regulations following the customs reauthorization law's forced labor provisions that repealed the "consumptive demand" considerations (see 1606170040), which is causing some industry anxiety (see 1605170017).
The Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing changes to its regulations that would require electronic filing of permit applications, import and export declarations, and other required filings and reports for the importation and exportation of controlled substances, listed chemicals, and tableting and encapsulating machines. The agency’s proposed rule (here) would eliminate paper filing of most DEA-required submissions entirely, instead requiring importers and exporters to file via the DEA Office of Diversion Control “secure network application,” DEA said. DEA would then provide information to CBP “to validate importations subject to DEA regulations,” it said.
CBP and the trade community may still not be ready for ACE drawback and reconciliation by Oct. 29, despite CBP’s recent delay of the deadline, customs lawyer Michael Cerny said during a panel discussion at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington Sept. 12. Both systems have been “barely tested,” and software developers still aren’t ready with programming, said Cerny, who chairs the Trade Support Network’s drawback subcommittee. CBP’s CATAIR requirements and business rules still aren’t set with less than two months before the deadline, a situation reminiscent of the approach to CBP’s original November 2015 deadline for all of ACE, he said.
CBP faces a challenging budget environment for ACE as it works to find funding for improvements and new functionalities long desired by the trade community, said Cynthia Whittenburg, deputy executive assistant commissioner at CBP’s Office of Trade, at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference in Washington Sept. 12. Following completion of “core” ACE in December, the “funding profile” will “adjust downward” as CBP will be legally required to use ACE operations and maintenance funding for operations and maintenance, and will not be able to use the funds for building new capabilities, including for partner government agencies (PGAs). “So when you see in our appropriations and funding, 'ACE,' those dollars are going strictly to fixing bugs and keeping the system running,” she said.
Beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) can't retrieve freight aboard Hanjin ships subject to third-party possessory liens without first paying marine terminal operators (MTOs) and other third parties, despite an interim order from a U.S. bankruptcy judge in New Jersey that grants Hanjin temporary Chapter 15 protection, said Ed Greenberg of GKG Law (see 1609090059). “The MTOs have liens, they’re going to assert those liens,” he said Sept. 12 during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “Until they get paid, you’re not getting the assets.” Although the order prevents any parties from moving to seize any Hanjin assets, the order doesn’t apply to any existing third-party possessory liens, Greenberg said. Furthermore, no party can terminate any Hanjin lease because of insolvency, but could for another reason, and Hanjin can’t refuse to make the containers available, he said. Also, the interim court order requires Hanjin to cooperate with BCOs, but doesn’t apply to non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs), as none has appeared before a U.S. bankruptcy court, Greenberg said.
CBP’s import scanning should provide more benefits for Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) participants and remain risk-based, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said Sept. 13. “C-TPAT does need some additional work,” he said during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “If you’re a C-TPAT member and you’re valued and you’ve reached those top tiers, we need to enhance the benefits very much there.” Kerlikowske indicated that a risk-based scanning approach would dovetail with providing greater trusted trader benefits, and that such a method would be more realistic and efficient than a congressional mandate requiring all incoming U.S. cargo to be scanned via X-ray, which can be extended every two years with lawmakers’ approval. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson last notified Congress of such an extension in May (see 1605310028).
CBP will seek to update its bi-annual customs broker licensing exam, the agency said in a notice (here). As long discussed (see 1604220023), CBP plans to "modernize" the exam by allowing for automation, increasing the fee and adjusting the dates, it said. The automated exams will be held at private testing centers "equipped with computers programmed to accommodate the examination while blocking web access," and "administered by professional proctors," CBP said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service will soon begin allowing ACE filing of data required by the agency under an approach that includes several tariff schedule flags with differing filing requirements, said Sheila Einswaller, a senior wildlife inspector at the agency, during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference Sept. 12 in Washington. FWS recently announced the beginning its pilot (see 1605040023), but the test is not a “live functioning pilot at this time” as FWS is still working with developers and CBP to get business rules in place. Though the timing of live piloting is still unknown, FWS has completed the exercise of dividing the tariff schedule into four “buckets,” with different data element requirements for each based on how likely it is that FWS data is required for any given 10-digit subheading, she said.
Work continues on a report due to Congress on how CBP can improve importer verifications through customs brokers after the Department of Homeland Security sent it back to CBP following a review, said Jerry Malmo, director of CBP's Commercial Enforcement Division. DHS sent the report back to CBP because it was "too specific on what our plans were," said Malmo, who spoke Sept. 12 at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference. Still, the agency recently started briefing lawmakers on the report, which was due Aug. 22 as part of the customs reauthorization law's Section 116 (see 1608240026).
CBP is misguided in its proposal to add non-vessel operating common carriers to the definition of importer within the importer security filing (ISF) requirements (see 1607050028), the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the agency (here). CBP proposed adding importer status to different parties based on whether the shipment involves foreign cargo remaining on board (FROB) or other types of cargo in order to make sure the party with the access to detailed cargo information is responsible for filing an ISF. The NVOCC is "rarely, if ever," the party with best access to the required information, the trade association said.