The President published Proclamation 8818 in the Federal Register which amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to implement the U.S.-Colomba Trade Promotion Agreement, effective for goods of Colombia entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 15, 2012. The International Trade Commission simultaneously posted the Annexes to the Proclamation which list all of the 2012 and later year amendments to the HTS for this free trade agreement. The Proclamation and Annexes also make corrections to the HTS for certain preference programs and other FTAs.

CBP continues to consider combining Importer Self-Assessment (ISA) with C-TPAT, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner David Aguilar said during a House May 17 hearing on Customs issues . He also said critical fixes to already deployed ACE capabilities are among the major goals for CBP in the coming year. E-Manifest: Rail and Sea (M1), simplified entry, and the integration of export capability are also top priorities, he said in response to questions following his written testimony.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) plans to move forward on reauthorization legislation for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he said during an opening statement before the subcommittee hearing on Supporting Economic Growth and Job Creation through Customs Trade Modernization, Facilitation, and Enforcement. The last time the Ways and Means committee passed a CBP reauthorization was in 2004, and "it is long overdue," he said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the ACS (EI) and ACE (AE) systems are now automated to accept Colombia TPA claims (here).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection must be aware of the limits of what customs brokers can provide to CBP, though there are several ways brokers can work with CBP to further the importing process, according to written testimony from Darrell Sekin, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwards Association of America. Sekin is scheduled to testify May 17 before the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee during a hearing on Supporting Economic Growth and Job Creation through Customs Trade Modernization, Facilitation, and Enforcement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said May 15, 2012, system changes associated with the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement are scheduled to be ready beginning May 16, 2012 at 7:00 a.m.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) announced a subcommittee hearing to review customs operations administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The hearing will focus on efforts to enhance economic growth and job creation by facilitating legitimate trade, modernizing customs procedures, and enforcing U.S. Customs and trade laws. The hearing will help the Committee develop customs reauthorization legislation. The hearing will be at 10 a.m. May 17 in 1100 Longworth House Office Building.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a record of changes since April 24 to the ACE ABI CATAIR (Customs and Trade Automated Interface Requirements). The only changes made were edits in paragraph 6 under Check-Digit Computation section in Appendix E. The change record is (here). Appendix E is (here). The full CATAIR is (here).

Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 30-May 4, 2012 in case they were missed last week.