U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a revised version of its informed compliance publication (ICP) entitled, What Every Member of the Trade Community Should Know About: Household Articles of Base Metal.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice to its Web site announcing that due to the extraordinary circumstances regarding the availability and distribution of the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), CBP is providing exam applicants with a listing of the chapters from the HTS that will be used in the April 2, 2007 Brokers Exam.
On December 29, 2006, President Bush issued Proclamation 8097 to modify the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement the World Customs Organization-recommended and other changes to the HTS (Annex I); to modify certain free trade agreement's (FTA's) and trade preference program's previously proclaimed staged duty rate reductions1 for the WCO-recommended changes (Annex II); and to adjust the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) rules of origin2 in HTS General Note 28 for the WCO-recommended changes (Annex III).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a notice stating that effective March 9, 2007, it may issue claims for liquidated damages and/or penalties against importers, carriers or bonded custodians for importing wood packaging material (WPM) in violation of the regulations.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site an updated version of its lengthy document on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entitled "ACE Frequently Asked Questions."
American Shipper reports that forwarders, brokers, and non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) are getting caught in a costly squeeze that is hard to address due to an increase on government agencies putting a hold on cargo which leads to demurrage and detention charges. An NVOCC quoted in the article opines that it's one thing if an importer holds a container for an extra day or two after unloading, or if any shipper tries to use container-marshalling space as a free warehouse, but when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the most exam-prone of agencies) decides to put a hold on a shipment, the delay is neither caused nor exacerbated by shippers or their intermediaries. The NVOCC adds that there should be some way for the trade industry to reverse the charges incurred, or get some kind of break, when it's caused by the government. (American Shipper Pub February 2007, www.americanshipper.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted a notice to its Web site announcing that it has extended until May 2, 2007 (from March 31, 2007) the deadline for "existing" Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) customs brokers to comply with the C-TPAT minimum security criteria for customs brokers.
According to an American Shipper editorial, the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) has been eclipsed by efforts to enhance cargo security since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The article adds that CBP did cross a major ACE milestone last year when it announced the first group of border crossings at which truckers would be required to file electronic instead of paper manifests, but full ACE implementation is still years down the road. (American Shipper Pub February 2007, www.americanshipper.com)
In December 2006, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued its minimum security criteria for customs brokers already enrolled in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, or for those wishing to join this voluntary supply chain security program. At that time, CBP also issued its implementation plan for the new C-TPAT minimum security criteria for customs brokers.
The Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC)1 has given U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 37 recommendations2 regarding its 10+2 draft proposal to require additional advance data elements for maritime cargo.