U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has scheduled the next Customs Broker License Examination for Monday, October 3, 2005.
American Shipper reports that in an abrupt change of policy, the U.S. State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) will no longer approve export licenses for freight forwarders that have traditionally managed international shipments for American shippers of military technology. The article reports that the DDTC's policy is now that an applicant must be the entity who is selling the defense article to the designated recipient foreign company. (American Shipper, dated 08/08/05, ShippersNewswire@americanshipper.com )
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a general notice that announces changes in its National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) test concerning periodic monthly deposit of estimated duties and fees.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently posted to the Pilot Bond Centralization Program section of its Web site a July 8, 2005 guidance document entitled "Latest News and Developments." According to CBP, this document provides information about the Pilot Bond Centralization Program and current issues, policies, and procedures for processing bond applications.
In mid-July 2005, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted separate application instructions requiring that all application information be submitted online for those seeking to participate in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). Separate application instructions are posted for the following groups:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a July 2005 version of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Application. According to CBP, this application consists of four documents: ACE Account Portal Power of Attorney, Terms and Conditions for Account Access of ACE Portal, Additional Account/Account Owner Information, and ACE Secure Data Portal Request to Participate.
Despite rampant anecdotal reports, solid data documenting a rise in credit card misuse are “very hard to come by,” an Emory U. economics expert said Fri. Offering Congressional staffers a contrarian outlook on data theft, law professor and Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) fellow Paul Rubin said not only has incidence not risen significantly, but research indicates fewer consumers actually are affected by breaches. He cited surveys by the FTC and e-commerce firm Javelin. Over time, Nielsen studies of the credit card industry show a drop in losses related to fraud, Rubin added. He credited card firms’ use of increasingly sophisticated misuse detection tools and growing expertise at flagging fraud.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a new "Trade Engagement Biweekly Reports" which summarize topics discussed during workshops held to develop the business requirements for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Release 5.
Payment card firms emerged nearly unscathed from a House Financial Services oversight subcommittee hearing Thurs. on the security of credit card data processing. The immediate spur was a breach at CardSystems Solutions, a 3rd party payment processor for several card companies. That breach compromised more than 40 million credit card accounts from 4 major firms (WID June 23 p8). The incident led Visa and American Express to sever ties with CardSystems as of Oct. 31.
On June 23, 2005, the 166 members of the World Customs Organization (WCO) unanimously adopted the Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade (Framework).