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

CBP plans to provide an outline of cargo release processes within the Automated Commercial Environment on May 15, said Steve Hilsen, lead executive of the Single Window Program Office at CBP. Hilsen and ACE Business Office Acting Director Deborah Augustin spoke about Single Window progress at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 22 in Orlando, Florida. Most of the Partner Government Agency functionalities will begin production as of June 27, though there will be some delay in adding non-Lacey Act capabilities for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Hilsen said. A CBP presentation included a number of "key dates" in preparation of the Nov. 1 requirement for electronic summary and entry filing in ACE (here).

The House Ways and Means Committee approved the four major trade bills up for consideration at its April 23 markup, following a full day of debate on the legislation. The committee ultimately sent to the House floor Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, a preference package and a Customs Reauthorization bill. Committee lawmakers approved the same TPA, TAA and preference package bills the Senate Finance Committee endorsed the day before (see 1504230001). TPA passed in a partisan vote, with two Democrats joining Republicans in support. The other three bills passed by voice vote, a committee spokesman said.

CBP should consider adjusting its implementation schedule for the Automated Commercial Environment if the trade community isn’t ready by the Nov. 1 deadline for mandatory filing, said the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) in a formal recommendation adopted at its April 24 meeting. Under CBP’s current plans, filers that aren’t ready for ACE on Nov. 1 will have to file on paper as the Automated Commercial System (ACS) is shut down. COAC’s One U.S. Government at the Border Subcommittee said it is “concerned that reverting to paper will significantly slow the velocity of trade, especially given the pre-holiday peak season.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – The upcoming Food and Drug Administration pilot to test filing and release of FDA-regulated entries in the Automated Commercial Environment will start with drugs before expanding to other products, said Domenic Veneziano, FDA director of import operations, at the annual conference of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America April 22. The pilot, which will begin July 1, will start at three ports: Baltimore, Otay Mesa and Philadelphia, he said. The agency wants to make sure its IT systems are running smoothly before adding other FDA-regulated products to the pilot, but intends to eventually test all types of commodities before ACE cargo release becomes mandatory in November, said Veneziano. Medical devices will come after drugs in August, he said. Veneziano announced the FDA pilot would begin in July at a webinar last March (see 1503240065).

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

CBP New York/Newark released statistics in a pipeline notice showing the "cycle time measurement" of Centralized Examination Stations from January through March. The cycle times refer to the time from ocean container arrival, as transmitted via the Automated Commercial Environment, through final examination completion release date.

CBP provided a list of entry and entry summary filing methods to be available as of Nov. 1, after which electronic filing will be required in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The list (here) includes a comparison of the filing methods available now and the methods that will disappear on Nov. 1. CBP reported that some filers are confused as to whether they can file in ACE. "Filers have advised CBP that they understand their entries are filed in ACE, when in fact they are transmitting ACE Entry Summary data and certifying corresponding cargo release data in the Automated Commercial System (ACS)," said the agency. "These transmissions do not constitute an ACE entry filing, which is required for the November 1, 2015 mandatory date." Currently, only four percent of all entries are filed within ACE, it said.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- CBP and the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America are set to launch the Broker Known Importer Program (BKIP) in the coming week, said agency and trade association leadership at the NCBFAA annual conference on Aug. 22. With functionality in the Automated Commercial Environment in place since January, CBP will issue a CSMS message next week detailing the voluntary program, which will lower the agency’s risk profile for an importer if their broker informs CBP through a flag checked at entry that it “knows” the importer and has advised the importer of its compliance responsibilities. The CSMS message will allow BKIP to “go live,” said Mary Jo Muoio of OHL Trade Services.

ORLANDO, FLA. -- There's still some uncertainty as to whether CBP will ultimately require continuing education hours as part of a customs broker license, said Brenda Smith, assistant commissioner in CBP's Office of International Trade at the National Customs Broker & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 20. The agency is now in the process of reviewing whether it has the authority to make such a requirement and CBP will also need to look at all the pieces involved, she said. CBP has been considering for several years a proposal to require customs brokers to have 40 hours of continuing education for every three years (see 13041104).