The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will continue to accept electronic copies of phytosanitary certificates and forms until Sept. 30, the agency told the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America in a letter dated Feb. 3 and subsequently released by the NCBFAA. APHIS has been accepting the electronic copies through CBP’s Document Image System as a measure to mitigate COVID-19 disruptions, and had been set to end the policy prior to an NCBFAA letter asking for an extension sent in mid-January (see 2201180050).
The State Department this week fined a U.S. electro-optics equipment manufacturer $840,000 after it illegally exported or tried to export defense items to several countries, including China and Lebanon. Torrey Pines Logic didn’t secure required export licenses before shipping its products, illegally participated in defense export activities while it was ineligible and didn’t maintain adequate export transaction records, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said in a charging letter released Jan. 31. TPL ultimately agreed to a series of remedial measures to improve its export compliance program, including hiring a DDTC-approved compliance officer.
Thirteen groups that represent business interests told House leaders that they strongly oppose the changes to de minimis in the trade title of the America Competes Act, the House answer to the Senate China bill that passed last year.
CBP released the names of those serving on the next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.
CBP released the names of those serving on the next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America released the names of those serving on the next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee, in a Jan. 24 email. CBP provided the list to those members Jan. 18, the association said. Some work toward the 21st Century Customs framework has been on hold until the COAC returns for the new term (see 2109230031). CBP didn't comment.
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department nixed the operations of 69 customs brokers working in HCM City, the state-run CustomsNews reported Jan. 15. The brokers' operations were halted because their licenses are beyond the six months from the date of operation and they failed to submit the application for resuming operations.
The Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Jan. 18 with the following headquarters rulings (ruling revocations and modifications will be detailed elsewhere in a separate article as they are announced in the Customs Bulletin):
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he knows that Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is sincere in his concern that the more generous de minimis threshold since 2016 has had unintended consequences. Blumenauer was one of just 24 House Democrats who supported the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act that raised the threshold to $800. Blumenauer introduced a bill (see 2201180053) that would bar importers of Chinese goods from using de minimis, and would also end the ability to send exports to Canada and Mexico to wait in warehouses until a U.S. buyer makes an online purchase.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America issued a letter on Jan. 14 urging the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to continue accepting copies of phytosanitary certificates to the agency's Document Image System. APHIS twice has extended its temporary policy of accepting copies -- most recently from Jan. 1 to March 31 (see 2112290032) -- which is in place to mitigate challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Shuffling thousands of pieces of paper through the supply chain in an otherwise electronic system never made sense in the best of times," the trade group said. "In the current chaos, the prospect is alarming."