U.S. Customs and Border Protection released the following documents ahead of the May 22, 2012 Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting scheduled for Savannah, Georgia:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is considering ways to leverage Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) and offer a simplified entry process to ACAS participants by integrating with the Simplified Entry initiative, said CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar during testimony before a House May 17 hearing on Customs issues .

Congress should fully support U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the American Association of Exports and Importers said in comments to Congress May 17 ahead of a subcommittee hearing on Customs Trade Modernization, Facilitation and Enforcement. AAEI said its main goal is full funding of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and International Trade Data System. "ACE and ITDS will save the government tens of millions of dollars in the long run," said AAEI President Marianne Rowden. And she said they're "crucial" for long-term survival of the trade community. (See report on the hearing in the Top News section).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said May 17, 2012, since the implementation of ACE as the system of record for the Foreign Trade Zone program, the edit described in the FT 40 record in FTZ Chapter of the CATAIR is being enforced. The FT40 record states house bills are to be sent for air shipments only. If the MOT is other than 40 or 41, space fill.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued its instructions for the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA), which takes effect for qualifying goods entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 15, 2012. The notice gives an overview of the CTPA rules of origin, as well as instructions for handling "WCO tariff number" discrepancies. CBP also provides information on its process for verifying importer claims, the SPI "CO", post-importation claims and protests, etc.

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Tariff Schedule to implement the U.S.-Colomba Trade Promotion Agreement, effective for goods of Colombia entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption on or after May 15, 2012.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.