The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America suggested members review EU's general data protection regulation, now that the rules have taken effect. "GDPR applies to all companies and organizations that offer services or products to EU residents," NCBFAA emailed members. "Even if you have no offices in the EU, no members in the EU and no meetings in the EU, if you transact business there or send promotional materials to EU residents, you are probably covered by the GDPR."

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America "is not aware of any law prohibiting the disclosure" of Employer Identification Numbers that might prevent compliance with new Chinese customs data requirements, the NCBFAA said in an email. China's General Administration of Customs is requiring the shipper code and contact identifier for all master and house airway bills as of June 1 (see 1805140017). The GAC requires an EIN or Central Index Key (CIK) (or the comparable government identification for shippers or forwarders in other countries) of U.S.-based shippers and forwarders, meaning the EINs will be disclosed to both the carrier and GAC, the NCBFAA said. "The NCBFAA understands that many parties are concerned regarding potential liability for disclosing EINs to [GAC] and third parties. The association believes that EINs are not, however, protected in the same manner as Social Security Numbers ('SSNs'), and are instead considered to be public information," it said.

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America "is not aware of any law prohibiting the disclosure" of Employer Identification Numbers that might prevent compliance with new Chinese customs data requirements, the NCBFAA said in an email. China's General Administration of Customs is requiring the shipper code and contact identifier for all master and house airway bills as of June 1 (see 1805140017). The GAC requires an EIN or Central Index Key (CIK) (or the comparable government identification for shippers or forwarders in other countries) of U.S.-based shippers and forwarders, meaning the EINs will be disclosed to both the carrier and GAC, the NCBFAA said. "The NCBFAA understands that many parties are concerned regarding potential liability for disclosing EINs to [GAC] and third parties. The association believes that EINs are not, however, protected in the same manner as Social Security Numbers ('SSNs'), and are instead considered to be public information," it said.

CBP is working on mitigation guidelines for wood packaging material penalties "and has prioritized their completion," an agency spokesman said. CBP takes the threat of invasive pests seriously and the WPM enforcement is meant to prevent such pests from entering the U.S. in wood packaging, the spokesman said. "The policy change to issue penalties for each WPM violation has raised awareness of WPM regulations," he said. CBP issued guidance on WPM violations in November 2017 stating that it planned to increase the frequency of penalties for WPM violations (see 1711030034).

Importers should be aware of a recent uptick in wood packaging material enforcement by CBP, Ted Murphy, a customs lawyer with Baker & McKenzie, said in a recent blog post. "In the past month or so, CBP has issued sizeable penalties (i.e., hundreds of thousands of dollars) to several clients who sought to import merchandise on non-compliant WPM," Murphy said. "Given the amount of the penalties being assessed (which are for the full domestic value of the imported merchandise; not just for the value of the WPM) and the lack of clarity around how much mitigation CBP will ultimately afforded (if any), this is an issue that all importers should take additional steps to address."

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America suggested that members review the new European Union privacy rules that took effect May 25 and consider developing a compliance policy. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is meant to protect the personal data of those in the EU. "The GDPR applies to all companies and organizations that offer services or products to EU residents," the NCBFAA said in an email to members. "Even if you have no offices in the EU, no members in the EU and no meetings in the EU, if you transact business there or send promotional materials to EU residents, you are probably covered by the GDPR."

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the National Retail Federation and 50 other trade groups in various industries want the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to “immediately make public” the details of the process it will use to add more Chinese-sourced products to the proposed 25 percent tariffs list, they said in comments dated May 22. “We strongly believe there needs to be additional public input for any products that USTR is considering adding to the proposed list,” said the comments, which also were signed by the Consumer Technology Association, the Toy Association and the Home Furnishings Association.

CBP plans to focus its newfound ACE development funding on several projects required to implement upcoming regulations, as well as new capabilities desired by the trade community, according to its May 22 announcement of priority areas for the $30 million it received in appropriations legislation. That includes enhanced collection of importer information, the addition of partner government agency (PGA) data to electronic foreign-trade zone admissions, and a new ability for importers and exporters to electronically request confidentiality for their manifest data.

Supply chain professionals and trade group executives praised the progress U.S. government agencies have made in trade facilitation, and pointed to areas where they could still make progress, during the Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 22. The Unified Cargo Processing pilot, which is soon expanding from seven ports of entry to nine (see 1803300020), has reduced crossing time by up to 75 percent, according to Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas. He also talked about how private industry can help CBP be more business friendly, such as with private dollars helping to fund a 3.5-mile shortcut from the Mariposa port of entry in Nogales, Arizona, to the highway. He said they're lobbying CBP to set up a donations acceptance program to build a cold storage inspection facility at a port of entry, too. He said his group would also like to see Canada try unified cargo processing with CBP.

Supply chain professionals and trade group executives praised the progress U.S. government agencies have made in balancing trade facilitation and enforcement, and pointed to areas where they could still make progress, during the May 22 Global Supply Chain Summit hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lev Kubiak, who spent 24 years as a special agent at the Department of Homeland Security, now is deputy chief security officer for Pfizer. Kubiak said Pfizer is trying to help CBP and Homeland Security Investigations with the information they collects around the world. U.S. customs officials don't automatically receive seizure notices for actions done in other countries. "There is no institutional mechanism for customs services to share that information with other customs services," he said.