CBP's official notice beginning a pilot program that would test a combined Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Importer Self Assessment (ISA) was delayed in order to include information on participation by other government agencies, said CBP in a document released ahead of the Feb. 20 Advisory Committee on the Commercial Operations of CBP (COAC) meeting. CBP said in November it planned to officially request pilot participants for the program, known as "Trusted Trader," by the end of 2013 (see 13111920). Another COAC working group said it is working to develop recommendations for customs broker permitting updates by May.
The Customs Plaza Construction Act of 2014, introduced on Feb. 11, would provide funding to construct the New International Trade Crossing (NITC) at the U.S. -- Canada border and other federal customs plazas at U.S. ports of entry, said sponsor Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., in a press release. The legislation would prioritize funding for facilities and buildings at the busiest ports in the country, according to the bill text, providing appropriations from 2015 through 2021. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Canadian officials brokered the NITC agreement in 2012 (here), but construction has yet to begin.
The Census Bureau released on Feb. 11 its schedule for Automated Export System (AES) seminars and AESPcLink workshops for 2014. At each event, training will be provided by Census, CBP, and the Bureau of Industry and Security at the seminar on the first day. These experts will cover the filing requirements of the Foreign Trade Regulations, how to classify commodities in Schedule B, EAR compliance, enforcement of the FTR, and provide a thorough overview of the AES. The second day will offer a half-day AESPcLink Workshop.
CBP posted an updated version of its notice announcing that the next customs broker license exam will be on Monday, April 7.
Send event information for inclusion in the International Trade Today Calendar toITTNews@warren-news.com.
CBP performed 2,129 total Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) validations in 2013, falling slightly short of its plans to reach 2,200 validations in the year, the agency said in an update on C-TPAT program statistics. The 2013 total included 576 initial validations and 1,553 revalidations, it said. While validations for 2013 started out slowly, the agency maintained it planed to reach 2,200 validations for the year (see 13060627). CBP did a total of 2,376 validations, including 640 initial validations and 1,736 revalidations, in 2012. The agency has done 33 validations this year as of Feb. 3, the update said.
The Food and Drug Administration’s proposed rule on the Foreign Supplier Verification Program leaves too much to the imagination and could impose burdensome requirements on importers, said the American Association of Exporters and Importers in comments recently submitted to the agency (here). “A close reading of the lengthy and complex rule reveals that many fundamental questions remain unanswered,” said AAEI. Worried about provisions of the proposed rule that could prove costly, including management and recordkeeping requirements, “some AAEI members that import only small amounts of food have indicated that they will cease future imports of food if the FSVP Rules are implemented in their current form,” the group warned.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) trade facilitation agreement struck in December validates decades of express industry calls to modernize customs procedures, said Managing Director for Trade and International Affairs at FedEx Express Ralph Carter at a Jan. 29 Center for Strategic and International Studies panel titled “Future of U.S. Trade Facilitation and its Development Impact.” The facilitation agreement represents a victory for the global trading community, although the Express industry remains “concerned” over implementation, said Carter.
Frontier Communications’ $2 billion purchase of AT&T’s Connecticut wireline business is unlikely to mean major telcos are prepared to sell off similar statewide assets en masse, said industry experts in interviews. But they said telcos could consider similar deals in the future if it makes sense from a business perspective. Frontier said in December it’s buying AT&T’s wireline residential and business services in Connecticut, including that state’s portion of AT&T’s fiber network, as well as its U-verse video customers and some satellite-TV customers. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014 (CD Dec 18 p9).
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) for CBP will next meet Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. in Washington, CBP said in a notice.