The State Department is proposing to increase fees for registration with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, it said in a notice released April 23. The agency also is proposing changes to the DDTC fee structure, as well as a reorganization of its International Traffic in Arms Regulations on fees and registration.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
FORT LAUDERDALE -- While CBP's Entry Type 86 pilot has allowed customs brokers to handle low value shipments, the agency also is seeing filers "abusing" the test by filing unverified data and pricing out other brokers who can't compete with the low fees the bad actors are charging, said CBP acting Commissioner Troy Miller in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference April 17.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- CBP in the final review and selection stage" for accreditors of continuing education for customs brokers, and will announce "in the coming months" the start date for broker continuing education requirements, the number of hours required for this triennial reporting period and the names of the approved accreditors, said Shari McCann, director of CBP's Cargo Security and Controls Division, on April 17.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- CBP is expanding its partnership with the Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Unit, and is including large brokers and software developers in the effort to use "these HSI resources to help identify cyber attacks before they happen, said Shari McCann, director of commercial operations for CBP's Office of Trade.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission has extended its e-filing “beta” pilot another two months, allowing filing to continue for 37 importers and 21 customs brokers participating in the pilot until mid-June, said Sabrina Keller, deputy director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, on April 16. The pilot had been scheduled to end April 16 without the extension, she said, speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference. Six months in, the commission has “a lot of good data and a lot of good information,” she said.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “hopefully” publish its notice launching Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement “in the next two-ish months,” said Erin Otto, of the agency’s Lacey Act program, on April 16. That will trigger a six-month countdown until full enforcement of Phase VII, which covers all non-composite plant products that Lacey Act requirements haven't previously covered.
'Head Scratching' Likely After D&D Rule in Effect; Changed Broker Terms Possible, NCBFAA Lawyer Says
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The effective date for the Federal Maritime Commission's new rule on detention and demurrage may not provide a long enough "runway" for industry to prepare, given that it's a "systemic alteration" of how the industry operates, said Ashley Craig of Venable. He said he suspects there will be a lot of "head scratching" after the rule becomes effective on May 28 (see 2402230049).
For “many years,” General Motors, OnStar and LexisNexis Risk Solutions have been collecting location, vehicle and personally identifiable information (PII) from OnStar-equipped vehicles and selling “vast amounts” of that data to third parties, alleged a privacy class action Friday (docket 2:24-cv-02978) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles.
The House Ways and Means Committee is set on April 17 to consider several just-introduced trade bills, including a retroactive extension of the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program, new restrictions on de minimis and restrictions on electric vehicle tax credits.