TUCSON, Arizona -- Upcoming ACE filing requirements for Fish and Wildlife Service regulated exports in ACE will likely be aligned with import filing requirements also in progress, FWS ACE Coordinator Rhyan Tompkins said May 2. The required data elements are the same for both imports and exports, which should lead to similar filing requirements, Tompkins said during an afternoon panel at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference. The agency is working through the message set with CBP, but in the meantime, exporters would likely find it useful to review the import ACE implementation guide for an indication of how the agency will handle exports.
TUCSON, Arizona -- Despite initial concerns around national permits that focused on the devaluation of the customs broker license and reduced hiring of licensed brokers, the industry should be more concerned with new responsible supervision and control criteria included in CBP’s June 2020 proposed rule amending Part 111 to eliminate district permits (see 2006040037), according to panelists speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference on May 3.
TUCSON, Arizona -- CBP’s development of its next generation ACE 2.0 system will require yet more implementation work from customs brokers just years after the development of the original ACE, but is necessary to avoid the pain of waiting too long to update a legacy system, as happened with the agency’s Automated Commercial System, said Brandon Lord, deputy executive director at CBP’s Office of Trade Policy & Programs.
TUCSON, Arizona -- The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to finalize a proposed rule on its ACE filing requirements at the end of 2022, said Rhyan Tompkins, the agency’s ACE coordinator, at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 2. The rulemaking would mark one of the final steps in what has been a stop-and-go process to develop the agency’s partner government agency (PGA) message set, with a voluntary ACE filing pilot open to all filers since 2020. Once ACE filing is mandatory, the agency will continue to allow filing as either a limited dataset, with most data filed in the agency’s eDecs (electronic declarations) system and only a confirmation number provided in ACE, or the extended dataset comprising all the required data elements in ACE, Tompkins said.
TUCSON, Arizona -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission aims to begin a pilot program in 2023 with wide participation from importers to test “e-filing” of certificate of compliance data elements, with an eye toward making the PGA message set mandatory in 2025, said Sabrina Keller, deputy director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, during a panel of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 2.
Counsel for Jennifer Lam-Quang-Vinh, a customs broker and former senior manager of Global Trade and Customs at Springs Window Fashions, a producer and seller of window coverings, pushed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit to set up a jury trial over whether she was unlawfully fired. During an April 27 oral argument, counsel for Lam continued to make the case that she was illegally let go from her job for expressing her view that the company's window shades imports should be assessed Section 301 China tariffs and that a jury should look at the case (Jennifer Lam-Quang-Vinh v. Springs Window Fashions, W.D. Wis. #21-2665).
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted importer JAS Supply's motion to amend its complaint in a spat over a customs broker contract involving a shipment of 19 containers of alcohol wipes from China. Judge Tana Lin said that the amended complaint cured the defects in the original complaint and disagreed with the defendants, Radiant Global Logistics and Radiant Customs Services, that the amendments were futile (JAS Supply v. Radiant Customs Services, W.D. Wash. #2:21-01015).
Two companies that arrange for the shipment of goods with vessel operating carriers, Shine Shipping and Shine International (Shine), will no longer be able to import, export, transport, offer for sale, sell or assist any such activity, for any goods bearing Nike trademarks, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said. Wrapping up a trademark infringement case, the district court released the terms of the stipulated permanent injunction and final order against Shine, including orders to verify every shipment to the U.S. with either the foreign shipper, importer or foreign freight forwarder (Nike v. B&H Customs Services, S.D.N.Y. #20-01214).
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Exporters told the Federal Maritime Commission that detention and demurrage invoices need to include the earliest return dates containers will be allowed at the terminal, and that "clock-stopping events," such as a lack of appointments to bring a container to the terminal, should also be on the invoices. However, the World Shipping Council said that while the earliest return date is something shippers need to know, they need to know it before a carrier invoice.