The FCC should act now to ensure automotive companies can’t commercialize the 5.9 GHz spectrum, set aside for dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) systems designed to curb traffic accidents, for uses that have nothing to do with public safety, public interest and consumer groups told the agency. It also should address cyber concerns, the groups said. Comments were due Wednesday on a June Public Knowledge and New America Open Technology Institute emergency petition (see 1606280066) for a stay of operations of DSRC.
The FCC should act now to ensure automotive companies can’t commercialize the 5.9 GHz spectrum, set aside for dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) systems designed to curb traffic accidents, for uses that have nothing to do with public safety, public interest and consumer groups told the agency. It also should address cyber concerns, the groups said. Comments were due Wednesday on a June Public Knowledge and New America Open Technology Institute emergency petition (see 1606280066) for a stay of operations of DSRC.
The FCC should act now to ensure automotive companies can’t commercialize the 5.9 GHz spectrum, set aside for dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) systems designed to curb traffic accidents, for uses that have nothing to do with public safety, public interest and consumer groups told the agency. It also should address cyber concerns, the groups said. Comments were due Wednesday on a June Public Knowledge and New America Open Technology Institute emergency petition (see 1606280066) for a stay of operations of DSRC.
The Food and Drug Administration should keep as optional in ACE several data elements that can be difficult for import filers to obtain, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in comments to the agency dated Aug. 22 (here). Though importers know submission of certain data elements, like active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and intended use, can speed FDA processing of their entries, some filers, particularly in land and air environments, don’t have the information at the time their entries are filed, the NCBFAA said. The trade group’s comments, which also include calls to revise definitions and the way value data is submitted, come in response to FDA’s July 1 proposed rule to codify its ACE requirements (see 1606300020).
CBP recently began briefing lawmakers on the agency's report on how it can improve importer verifications through customs brokers, a congressional staffer said. The report will lay out how best to require foreign nationals to give customs brokers accurate information and allow for brokers to review information held by the government in order to verify an importer, as required under the customs reauthorization law. CBP was required to study and submit a report to Congress on those issues by Aug. 22 (see 1602170074). CBP briefed the House Ways and Means Committee in person on the report, and the Senate Finance Committee anticipates CBP will provide more details soon, congressional staffers said. “It is delayed,” a Senate Finance minority spokesperson said. “We expect an update from CBP soon.” A Ways and Means majority spokesperson also said her committee hasn’t received the report, and referred questions to CBP, which didn’t comment. The law requires that regulations eventually provide "minimum standards for customs brokers and importers, including nonresident importers, regarding the identity of the importer that shall apply in connection with the importation of merchandise." The law doesn't specify timing for such regulations. Senate Finance Committee majority didn't comment.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Aug. 15-19 in case they were missed.
CBP will soon publish an interim final rule amending its regulations to provide for changes coming to liquidation processes when liquidation is deployed to ACE on Oct. 1, a CBP import specialist said during a webinar Aug. 17. Beginning Oct. 1, CBP will start processing liquidations weekly every Friday, and posting notices of the liquidations electronically to a searchable database on the CBP website. The electronic bulletin notices will replace manual postings at the customs house as legal notice for importers, the import specialist said.
A Chicago-based customs broker faces a lawsuit in federal court filed by a client seeking to recover millions of dollars in antidumping and countervailing duties that the client claims should have been refunded by the broker. Union Pacific filed suit in Northern Illinois U.S. District Court on Aug. 15, alleging Pactrans failed to pass along $5.8 million in AD/CV duty refunds paid by CBP after an AD/CV duty investigation was terminated with no duties imposed. Union Pacific also claims Pactrans failed to pay two months’ worth of AD/CV duties, costing it thousands of dollars more in penalties.
The American Association of Exporters and Importers is seeking an extension of the deadline for comments on the Food and Drug Administration’s ACE filing procedures, it said in a letter to the agency dated Aug. 9 (here). Commending FDA for issuing a proposed rule June 30 that outlines the agency’s newly mandatory ACE requirements (see 1606300020), AAEI nonetheless said the trade community needs more time to respond. Importers are still managing the impact of FDA’s ACE deadline of June 15 and CBP’s July 23 deadline for quota, and haven’t had the time to develop complete responses to FDA’s notice, it said. Industry also needs more time to discuss new data elements required by FDA with service providers like customs brokers and express carriers, the letter said. AAEI requested another 60 days to respond to FDA’s proposed rule. Comments are currently due Aug. 30.
Over 100 trade organizations doubled down on a calls for the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to start early discussions on either a contract extension or a new West Coast ports contract, as the current one is set to expire in 2019. In a letter to PMA and ILWU (here), the groups say a contract extension is vital to ensure stability and predictability at West Coast ports, and call for both parties to make sure that negotiations don’t spur additional port disruptions, advocating the maintenance of arbitration mechanisms in the existing contract throughout negotiations, even if the current contract expires before reaching a new deal. “We fully believe that agreeing early to a contract extension or a new long-term contract will provide the stability and predictability that is needed for global competitiveness that will benefit all stakeholders (labor, terminal operators, cargo owners, etc.) who rely on West Coast ports,” said the groups, which include the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the American Association of Exporters and Importers, and the American Apparel & Footwear Association. A similar industry coalition sent a letter to PMA and ILWU in March also calling for an early start to West Coast port contract negotiations (see 1603160031).