Trade associations focused on customs and other importer issues spent relatively little in Q4 of 2012, according to public lobbying records. Several groups that are heavily involved in policy-making for customs issues don't spend nearly as much as some of the major companies that are involved in the issues, the records show. For instance, the American Association for Exporters and Importers (AAEI) and the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles and Apparel (USA-ITA) combined spent less than $10,000 for lobbying in Q4, the records show. Lobbying toward improved enforcement for antidumping/countervailing duties (AD/CVD) was among the issues that gained in attention, the filings show.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America's board of directors recently approved 28 new members, the NCBFAA said in a notice on its website. New members include:
Feb. 5 NCBFAA webinar on How to Make Proper & Effective Voluntary Self-Disclosures to Export Violations, 1 p.m. -- http://bit.ly/119XMjS Feb. 5-7 AAPA Latin American & Caribbean Executive Management Conference, Merida, Mexico -- http://www.aapa-ports.org/Programs/seminarschedule.cfm?itemnumber=18598
CBP posted updated details on how to apply to participate in its reconciliation prototype and the necessary requirements for providing a copy of a reconciliation rider to continuous bond. The agency said if a Reconciliation "participant changes their continuous bond, copies of the replacement continuous bond, as well as a copy of the new bond rider need to be provided to the HQ Reconciliation team" and that "CBP has advised that failure to provide the Reconciliation rider may lead to insufficiency of the continuous importer bond." CBP said it would immediately render any continuous importer bond insufficient when that bond is being used in conjunction with Reconciliation entries but the required Reconciliation rider has not been provided to CBP.
CBP provided a list of various Trade Transformation goals the agency is working toward in 2013. The list was part of a CBP document outlining the agencies 2012 accomplishments on Trade Transformation.
The customs broker’s license examination scheduled for April 2013 will be on Wednesday, April 3, said CBP in a notice. The date was rescheduled from the previously announced April 1 date, but CBP didn't say why. The exam typically consists of 80 multiple-choice questions, with a score of 75 percent required to pass. Exam topics usually include: Entry, Classification, Country of Origin, Trade Agreements, Antidumping/Countervailing Duty, Value, Broker Responsibilities, FP&F, Protests, Marking, Prohibited and Restricted Merchandise, Drawback, Intellectual Property Rights, and other subjects pertinent to a broker's duties.
Jan 28 A.N. Deringer Regulatory Outlook Webinar -- http://bit.ly/Vy3Y0R
Netwin Solutions announced its GTKonnect FTZ (Foreign Trade Zone) software, which it said automates and simplifies complex zone-related data management, deadlines and reporting through reconciliation with inventory Bill of Materials (BoM), exception reporting, and integration with other software systems and partner organizations to reduce data entry. Netwin said its FTZ software provides end-to-end management of zone requirements with zone admission (or e-214 filing) to notify CBP of merchandise entering the zone via automated broker interface (ABI) link, QP/WP reporting for goods that arrive in one location and are being shipped to the zone or exported out of the zone, complete inventory management and visibility to process all zone related inventory transactions, 06 and 08 entry filing, and end-of-year reporting. Mitsubishi Motors North America has been a user of the software since December, Netwin said, using it to automate more than 250,000 zone transactions per day.
TranSwitch’s sharpened focus on video-related components could generate $20 million in revenue this year as it deploys HDPlay transceivers combining support for HDMI, DisplayPort and MHL, CEO Ali Khatibzadeh said at the Needham investor conference in New York. The chip developer has gained more than 50 “design-ins” for the HDPlay chip and will need to land purchase orders for slightly more than half that total to produce $20 million in video-related revenue, Khatibzadeh told us.
Jan. 23 NCBFAA Import & Export Roundtables, 2 p.m., N.Y.C. Marriott Marquis Hotel -- MFarrell@nynjforwarders-brokers.org