CBP issued filing instructions in a CSMS message for goods eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences in the event the GSP program expires at the end of the year. As in previous GSP lapses (see 13071514), filers would continue to use the GSP special program indicator to flag their entries, but would have to pay duties at the normal, non-preferential rate for any imports with a time of entry during the lapse. GSP is currently set to expire Dec. 31 if the program isn’t extended by Congress. "In the event of a lapse and until further notice, importers are strongly encouraged to continue to flag otherwise GSP-eligible importations with the SPI 'A' pay Normal Trade Relations (column 1) duty rates," CBP said. "Importers may not file SPI 'A' without duties."
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The Treasury Department published its fall 2017 regulatory agenda for CBP. The agenda doesn't include any new rulemakings involving trade. Previously listed rulemakings, including a proposal to update to the (a)(1)(A) list of records required for the entry of merchandise and changes to drawback regulations, continue to be on the agenda. The Department of Homeland Security also issued its regulatory agenda (see 1712150011).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 11-15 in case they were missed.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will allow a period of “informed compliance” after compliance with new ACE filing requirements for certain species under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program takes effect Jan. 1, CBP said in a CSMS message. Entries rejected because of missing or incorrect SIMP data that cannot be resolved in a “timely manner” may be refiled under the same entry without the SIMP message set, the agency said. The entries will be released with a warning message as long as all other NMFS filing requirements are met, and the filer will be required to submit the correct SIMP information “as soon as possible.” Entries that are not corrected “in a timely manner” will be “targeted with a full chain of custody audit,” NMFS said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP recently posted its updated cutover plan for the Jan. 6, 2018, deployment of statements in ACE, it said in a CSMS message. During the deployment there will be an outage period for payments and statements beginning Friday, Jan. 5, 2018, after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and ending Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, CBP said. ACE statements will begin processing “post data conversion” on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, with the exception of reconciliation statements, which is scheduled for deployment in February. ACE collections will not be deployed alongside statements, CBP said. “The date for the collections deployment in ACE is TBD.” Software developers have called for CBP to issue its cutover plan at least 30 days before statements go live in ACE (see 1710100068).
Regulatory agencies with jurisdiction over imports and exports published their regulatory plans for the next several months as part of the Fall 2017 Unified Agenda. As in the first regulatory agenda published by the Trump administration this spring, the fall agenda takes a deregulatory bent, although many regulations left off the prior agenda reappear in several agencies' plans. The Food and Drug Administration looks set to be particularly active, listing in its agenda new deregulatory actions as well as several new enforcement authorities.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP should remove from its regulations a limit of "one shipment per day" for imports under $800, the National Association of Manufacturers said in comments to the agency about rules considered onerous (see 1712120024). That shipment limit goes against "modern business practices where manufacturers may need to import commodities, component[s] or other goods on a 'just in time' basis," NAM said. "Manufacturers recommend that CBP eliminate the one shipment per day provision to be consistent with the" Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which raised the dollar value of the de minimis threshold.