U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources have informed Broker Power that the pass rate for the April 2011 customs broker license exam was 19%.
On April 5, 2011 a Justice Department official spoke at an NCBFAA conference1, and discussed how DOJ is interpreting the facilitation payments exception to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's (FCPA) anti-bribery provisions.
On May 5, 2011, officials from Customs and Border Protection1 and other agencies testified before a Senate Finance subcommittee2 on antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) fraud and duty evasion. CBP’s testimony included the actions it plans to take to stem the circumvention, while Senators criticized CBP’s efforts to date and announced plans to reintroduce legislation to strengthen AD/CV enforcement.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued an interim final rule, effective July 3, 2011, that will amend its regulations to require an additional element of information in a prior notice (PN) of imported food, as required by the Food Safety Modernization Act1. This change requires a person submitting PN of imported food, including food for animals, to report the name of any country to which the article has been refused entry.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, Inc. (NCBFAA) submitted a letter to the Food and Drug Administration on April 29, 2011 urging the agency not to place primary responsibility for the safety of imported food on third-parties such as customs brokers, as it implements the import provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
CBP has posted the April 2011 customs broker exam and answer key. According to CBP sources, passing rates are not yet available. BP will update readers when that information is available. CBP sources added that there was a delay in exam grades, as one problem question (#54) called for the re-scoring of the exams. Sources noted that they believe question #54 is the only problem question, and two answers are considered correct for that question.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s April 2011 ACE Trade Account Owner (TAO) announces that the agency is seeking brokers to be part of the e-Manifest: Ocean and Rail (M1) pilot, which is scheduled to begin in May. In September, CBP plans to begin rolling out M1 on a port-by-port basis and expects this rollout to be completed in January 2012.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted an updated version of its informed compliance publication entitled Customs Valuation Encyclopedia (1980-2010).
The Animal and Health Plant Inspection Service has updated its guidance on Special Use Codes for the Lacey Act Declaration for imported plants and plant products. According to APHIS sources, this new guidance consolidates three previous guidance documents on this topic, adds new information, and emphasizes the need for importers to exercise “due care” before using Special Use Codes (they should not be used as a catch-all).