Payment card firms emerged nearly unscathed from a House Financial Services oversight subcommittee hearing Thurs. on the security of credit card data processing. The immediate spur was a breach at CardSystems Solutions, a 3rd party payment processor for several card companies. That breach compromised more than 40 million credit card accounts from 4 major firms (WID June 23 p8). The incident led Visa and American Express to sever ties with CardSystems as of Oct. 31.
On June 23, 2005, the 166 members of the World Customs Organization (WCO) unanimously adopted the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (Framework).
The FMC has issued three notices that either reissue ocean transportation intermediary (OTI) licenses, revoke OTI licenses, or list those applying for OTI licenses, as follows:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted separate application instructions, and is requiring that all application information be submitted online, for those seeking to participate in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Separate application instructions have been posted for the following groups:
In the July 6, 2005 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin, CBP issued a notice containing guidelines with the following title, which are effective July 6, 2005:
The Journal of Commerce reports that the American Trucking Association is warning that there is already a shortage of 20,000 drivers in long-haul trucking that could increase to 111,000 by 2014 if current trends continue. The article notes that the shortage is worsened by security and safety measures established during the last few years. (JoC, dated 06/27/05, www.joc.com.)
In the July 6, 2005 issue of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Bulletin, CBP issued a notice containing guidelines with the following title, which are effective July 6, 2005:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a notice announcing that the China safeguard quotas on cats 338/339 and 352/652 filled on July 5, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. According to CBP, the proration amounts for entries presented at the fill moment are as follows:
In a statement containing his June 9, 2005 oral testimony before the House Government Reform Committee, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff answered a question on the use of third-party, certified auditors to improve container security/inspection, by stating that DHS is starting to talk about how it can tap into that expertise, so DHS doesn't have to own everything itself. Secretary Chertoff added that DHS wants to set the baseline, and does not necessarily want to operate it all as a government operation. (DHS statement, dated 06/09/05, available at http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=4536 )
Consumers need stronger federal protection against improper collection and sale of personal data and fast notice when sensitive data has been put at risk, the House Homeland Security Committee’s Democratic staff said. The report urged Congress to: (1) Regulate data brokers by extending the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to data brokers like ChoicePoint and LexisNexis, requiring they hew to the same data-sharing standards and consumer protections as consumer reporting agencies. (2) Set data security standards imposing on data brokers and credit reporting agencies obligations similar to those the Gramm- Leach-Bliley Act places on regulated financial institutions. (3) Mandate uniform notification methods for data brokers, consumer reporting agencies and financial entities to use in notifying consumers after a breach in any data system in which an unauthorized party is likely to misuse sensitive data. (4) Require retailers to assume more responsibility for guarding customer data by stipulating any business that routinely collects and maintains customer credit card, check or other payment data notify customers or their financial institutions in instances of data breach. The report called data breaches and ID theft especially troublesome because they show how easily terrorists could adopt false identities to sneak into the U.S. or finance operations. And criminals use off-the-shelf technology to make counterfeit IDs that are hard to detect. The report was prepared for Democratic Reps. Bean (Ill.), Thompson (Miss.) and Markey (Mass.).