The Automated Export System (AES) postdeparture (Option 4) is erroneously generating a “Fatal Error 082: USPPI Not Option 4 Eligible/Shipment Rejected” message due to a glitch in the system that resulted from the recent AES move to the Automated Commercial Environment platform, the Census Bureau said. Census is working to resolve the issue.

CBP posted some more of the presentations given during the East Coast Trade Symposium March 6-7. The newly available presentations are:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission should hold a dialogue with the trade community before it finalizes new entry documentation requirements, said a group of trade associations a letter to the commission dated March 14. CPSC proposed in May 2013 to require product safety compliance certificates to be filed with CBP at time of entry (see 13051018). That is a “significant change to current supply chain operations and will have a major adverse impact on businesses’ operations,” said the letter. The changes merit that CPSC hold a public form “as soon as possible,” said the trade groups. “It is important for the CPSC to fully understand how the current entry process works and how this change would not only impact the industry, but Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the CPSC as well,” it said.

Companies have started to request permission to unload cargo destined for Vancouver at U.S. ports as the labor dispute and truck driver strike in the Canadian city continues, said CBP in a CSMS message. Truckers at Port Metro Vancouver have been on strike since Feb. 26, though there has been some progress toward resolving the dispute, said A.N. Deringer in a March 14 alert.

CBP officials at agency headquarters are reviewing a proposal that would bring about a pre-classification program within the apparel Center for Excellence and Expertise, allowing importers that use the CEE to submit information to CBP and receive classification advice ahead of import, said CBP Director of Field Operations for San Francisco and Portland Brian Humphrey. Humphrey and others discussed the proposal March 7 during CBP’s Trade Symposium. The agency has previously mentioned the proposal (see 13102427), but has offered scant information in the past on how it might work. CBP has previously had such a program but has since stopped.

Brokers will continue to be an integral part of the trade process even as the role of the CEEs increases, said Leon Hayward, director of the pharmaceuticals CEE, while speaking on a panel at the CBP Trade Symposium March 7. The companies that are involved in developing the CEEs have told Hayward “no matter how much this kind of stuff changes, we’re still going to use our brokers to file our entries” because “we don’t want to do that ourselves,” he said. That's been true at Nike, which is participating in a CEE, said Matt Varner, the company's director of trade operations. There is still a constant line of communication between Nike and its brokers , he said.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:

CBP has hopes for modernization on several fronts, including for automation of import and export processing and revenue collection, for this year and the coming years, said agency officials during a panel at the East Coast Trade Symposium March 7. The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and related International Trade Data System continue to be a linchpin in CBP's modernization efforts, they said. The role of the CBP import specialist will be changing in coming years as work toward modernization moves forward, said Acting CBP Commissioner Thomas Winkowski.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Gil Kerlikowske as CBP commissioner by voice vote on March 6, in a move that ensures a Senate-confirmed commissioner will lead CBP for the first time in nearly five years. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, along with some industry leaders, praised the confirmation.

CBP will restart its policy of finding a continuous bond insufficient if the agency gets back mail sent to the bond principal, said Roanoke Trade in an alert. The agency told the Customs Executive Surety Committee "that they will re-instate their returned mail process" and that "CBP’s bond team will render continuous bonds insufficient when CBP receives returned mail from the bond principal," the alert said. CBP will flag bonds insufficient on Tuesdays, starting with April 8 and Roanoke Trade, "through its surety account ACE portal, will monitor our customers’ continuous bonds and will work with those customers affected by this process," the surety said. "Bonds rendered insufficient for returned mail can be re-instated by submitting a bond rider and CBP Form 5106 to CBP’s bond team using the subject line, “RIDER IR#”. If only the mailing address is being changed, CBP will accept a CBP Form 5106 only."