CBP posted a draft version of long-awaited Automated Commercial Environment cargo release business processes on May 15 (here). The draft is a "living document" and CBP will consider submitted comments for the next draft, said the agency (here). The processes document is expected to function as the "cornerstone" for both the trade and port personnel, an agency official recently said (see 1504270018).
The Senate Customs Reauthorization legislation is only a “piecemeal” approach to strengthening U.S. trade remedy law, and the bill could hamper U.S. industry and CBP’s ability to monitor U.S. imports, said a group of importers in a recent letter to the House Ways and Means Committee. The American Apparel and Footwear Association, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America and the International Wood Products Association, among others, signed onto the letter.
CBP began use of the Broker Known Importer Program (BKIP), said the agency in a CSMS message (here). BKIP allows customs brokers to indicate to the agency that an importer is "known" and was advised of "compliance responsibilities," said CBP. The voluntary program will "create a framework whereby customs brokers could discuss with their importer clients in greater depth the importer’s trade activities in the context of import regulations." The BKIP functionality is already included within the Automated Commercial Environment so "brokers can "transmit a Known Importer indicator when filing an entry on behalf of a Known Importer client," said CBP. The program is the result of a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America initiative (see 1504220071). While not required for BKIP, the NCBFAA offers a nine-page questionnaire (here) that brokers can go over with their importers in order to begin using the program.
Electronic filing of certificates of compliance could create a host of data entry issues for customs brokers, making the certificate registry approach contemplated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission an “attractive” option, said Amy Magnus, director-customs and compliance at A.N. Deringer, during a meeting between the agency and a CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations working group set up to address certificate filing.
In a world where decisions about people's lives are made by secret algorithms, anti-discrimination, due process and basic fairness protections are lost, University of Maryland law professor Frank Pasquale said Monday at a Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. Public Interest Research Group event. Mobile providers, cable companies, carriers, search engine companies, retail and content websites and social networking sites collect data, but it doesn’t stop there, Pasquale said. Data is swapped and sold among third and even fourth parties, he said, making the spread of data “un-monitorable and uncontrollable by any individual.”
In a world where decisions about people's lives are made by secret algorithms, anti-discrimination, due process and basic fairness protections are lost, University of Maryland law professor Frank Pasquale said Monday at a Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. Public Interest Research Group event. Mobile providers, cable companies, carriers, search engine companies, retail and content websites and social networking sites collect data, but it doesn’t stop there, Pasquale said. Data is swapped and sold among third and even fourth parties, he said, making the spread of data “un-monitorable and uncontrollable by any individual.”
A decrease in the amount of free time given to shippers to drop off or pick up cargo and an increase in demurrage charges may indicate that ocean carriers are using these mechanisms to drive up profits despite increasing congestion at ports, said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a letter to the Federal Maritime Commission dated May 5. The trade association requested that the commission conduct a detailed fact finding investigation on free time and demurrage to follow up on issues identified in an agency report released April 13 (see 1504140014).
The Federal Maritime Commission is working to mitigate damage caused by the recent months of West Coast port congestion, and it's critical that labor unions engage in negotiations as early as possible to avert a similar contract dispute in the future, said FMC Commissioner Mario Cordero in a Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearing on May 6. The Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union struck a tentative deal in February to continue port operations at full capacity (see 1502230002). Cordero also called for infrastructure improvements and funding boosts for agencies that handle the import and export of cargo.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for May 1 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
CBP scheduled a webinar on Importer Security Filing on May 5 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., said the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. Among the speakers is Craig Clark, ISF program manager in CBP's Office Field Operations. CBP's ISF policy allowing for three warnings to an importer before liquidate damages are filed is due to end May 13, Clark previously said. The policy could be extended if necessary, he said last year (see 14052106). Registration for the event is (here).