The 2016 annual user fee of $138 for each customs broker district permit and national permit held by an individual, partnership, association, or corporation is due by Feb. 26, said CBP in a notice (here). According to 19 CFR 111.96(c), this user fee is payable for each calendar year at the port through which the broker was issued a permit or at a port referred to in 19 CFR 111.19(c) in the case of a national permit. Note that 19 CFR 111.96(c) also states that if a broker fails to pay the annual user fee by the published due date, the appropriate port director will notify the broker in writing of the failure to pay and will revoke the permit to operate. That notice will constitute revocation of the permit. CBP anticipates "that for subsequent years, the annual user fee for customs brokers will be due on the last business day of February of each year," it said.
The Food and Drug Administration is making no changes at the present time to the data elements it requires for filing in its Automated Commercial Environment pilot, said Domenic Veneziano, director of FDA’s import division, in response to our inquiry Nov. 11. The data elements outlined in FDA’s current supplemental guide are “critical” in admissibility decisions, allowing the agency to more timely process releases, he said at a webinar hosted by Integration Point the previous day. “The only change, at this time, to the pilot is the need to complete and submission of the template,” Veneziano said, referring to FDA’s decision to end a pilot requirement that the agency prevalidate shipment data before it is filed in ACE (see 1512080075).
Lawmakers finished up work on a conference version of long-debated customs reauthorization legislation that combines the underlying concepts of the Senate- and House-proposed customs bills, said Conference Committee members on Dec. 9 (here). Notably, the compromise legislation (here) would impose the ENFORCE Act's firm deadlines on CBP to investigate claims of antidumping and countervailing duty evasion, and would require new regulations on customs broker identification of importers, under threat of penalty. A new provision in the legislation -- absent from either chamber's original bill -- would hold CBP to stricter deadlines for reliquidating entries. The bill could go to a vote on the House floor as early as Dec. 11, a congressional staffer said. The lawmakers also released a summary (here) and joint explanatory statement (here) on the bill's provisions.
There’s still space for importers, customs brokers and software developers that want to participate in pilots of Environmental Protection Agency filing in the Automated Commercial Environment, said Roy Chaudet of EPA’s Office of Information Collection during a webinar held with CBP on Dec. 8. Among pilots that are limited to nine participants, tests for imports of non-road vehicles and engines and pesticide notices of arrival currently have around two each, and a pilot on hazardous waste exporters has four, said Chaudet. Ongoing pilots with unlimited participation include imports of on-road vehicles and engines and ozone depleting substances.
The Food and Drug Administration is making changes to processes for participation in its Automated Commercial Environment filing pilot and modifying “the data that are required at the time of entry for admissibility,” said CBP in a CSMS message dated Dec. 9 (here). Effective immediately, FDA has removed the requirement for submitting a data element “template” for pre-validation, although it will still provide the template to assist filers and will “provide guidance and support” to “answer any questions,” said the message.
House and Senate lawmakers aim to send a long-awaited customs reauthorization bill to President Barack Obama by the end of this week, said members of Congressional Conference Committee during a Dec. 7 public meeting. While congressional officials said language from the Senate-introduced ENFORCE Act is likely to make it in the bill’s final conference report, an industry lobbyist remains skeptical. Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., joined fellow Democratic conferee Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore. in lauding ENFORCE provisions, which both said will make duty evasion much tougher for importers who might seek to undercut U.S. industry.
President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act into law on Dec. 4, the White House, said (here). The law (here), which authorizes budgetary resources for surface transportation programs for fiscal years 2016-2020, includes an increase to customs users fees to help pay for the programs. Among the fees set to increase are the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and broker permit fees. The fee changes will be based on the Consumer Price Index and the first adjustment will occur April 1 (see 1512040024).
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, International Wood Products Association and American Association of Exporters and Importers were among groups that asked House and Senate Conferees in a Dec. 3 letter (here) to ditch the provisions of the ENFORCE Act and instead include the PROTECT Act's antidumping/countervailing duty language within a final bill. A final bill may come as soon as this week as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., included "Possible Consideration of the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 644 - Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015" within his weekly schedule (here). The Conference Committee also scheduled a public meeting for Dec. 7 (here).
Congress voted to approve surface transportation reauthorization legislation that would increase customs user fees, including the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and broker permit fees, on Dec. 3. The bill provides funding for federal highway and other transportation projects through 2020. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (here), which also includes reauthorization for the Export-Import Bank, will next go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., appointed three former House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairmen to complete customs reauthorization legislation, Ryan said (here). The appointments followed a House vote on Dec. 1 that approved proceeding with a conference to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the customs bills (here). Ryan named Reps. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio and Dave Reichert, R-Wash., to represent the House Republicans in the conference committee. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., chose Reps. Sandy Levin, D-Mich., and Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., as the House Democrats on the committee, Pelosi said (here).