The Fish and Wildlife Service should reconsider its approach to ACE so as to not add several new burdens to industry filers, a group of trade associations said in a Nov. 16 letter to FWS Director Dan Ashe (here). The groups, including the National Retail Federation, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the FWS International Trade Data System pilot "has raised a number of concerns about the entry process and the long-term implications that could adversely affect both the agency and the industry." Among the concerns are an increase in the tariff subheadings flagged by FWS as requiring some type of filer action and the end to the Non-Designated Port Exemption Permit (DPEP) (see 1611140019). "We believe it is critical that these issues are addressed before any new mandatory ACE requirement is issued by FWS," the associations said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will provide updates on the status of ACE in real time through a new "dashboard" site (here). The dashboard will "show the status for each ACE application server in real time; daily summaries over the preceding month; and averages for the past week, month and quarter," CBP said in a CSMS message (here).
The transition to the incoming Trump administration will be a period of “great uncertainty” for ACE, the single window and the government officials at the heart of the International Trade Data System effort, said Christa Brzozowski, deputy assistant secretary for trade policy, foreign investment and transport security at the Department of Homeland Security. The next few months will be an “exciting time,” but “frankly a little bit of a dangerous time,” as career federal employees that won’t be replaced during the transition work to ensure their higher-ups recognize the importance of the single window effort, she said at the Customs Commercial Operations Advisory Committee on Nov. 17 in Washington.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2016 regulatory agenda for CBP (here), which mentions new rulemakings that implement part of the customs reauthorization. The agenda includes first mentions of an increase to the de minimis value (here) and antidumping and countervailing duty evasion investigation procedures (here). While interim final rules on both were issued earlier this year, CBP sought public comments on each, so further changes may be included when the regulations are finalized. CBP is aiming to finish the AD/CV duty evasion rulemaking (see 1608190014) by March, and the de minimis rulemaking (see 1608250029) by April, it said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will hold its ACE status conference calls on a weekly basis, rather than daily, as a result of fewer incoming questions, the agency said in a CSMS message (here). As of Nov. 22, the calls will start at 2 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesdays, it said. CBP may make future changes to the frequency of the calls, as needed, it said. Email AskACE@cbp.dhs.gov to request information about the calls.
MIAMI – CBP’s ACE priorities will include implementation of existing legislation and urgent fixes to the truck environment after it completes ACE “core” in January and moves into a more difficult “operations and maintenance” funding environment, said Josephine Baiamante of CBP’s ACE Business Office at the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Conference of the Americas on Nov. 14. The agency will also look at ways to work with other Department of Homeland Security agencies through ACE, before turning to a list of other capabilities the trade community has requested.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Foreign-Trade Zone operators could face problems as a result of CBP's proposed regulatory changes to allow for an electronic alternative to the Notice of Arrival that's required for some imports of pesticides and devices regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (see 1609290029), the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones said in comments to CBP (here). The problem is that FTZ entries are usually either Type 06 individual (or regular) or Type 06 weekly estimated entry types, it said. "It appears EPA may intend to require [Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)] NOA information at the time of cargo release in ACE – i.e., on entry," the NAFTZ said. "This point of transmission is too late in the importation process for FTZ filers."