The FTC will host three seminars starting in February on the benefits and privacy concerns raised by three new information collection practices, said the agency in a Monday news release (http://1.usa.gov/1jc3kS5). The topics are mobile device tracking, alternative scoring products and consumer-generated and controlled health data. The mobile device tracking seminar is scheduled for Feb. 19, and will explore the emerging practice of tracking customers’ movements in retail stores via their mobile devices (WID Dec 2 p1; Oct 23 p1). “In most cases, this tracking is invisible to consumers and occurs with no consumer interaction,” the release said. The alternative scoring products seminar on March 19 will deal with the data broker practice of offering customer scores to companies to predict customer traits such as the likelihood a customer has committed identity fraud; the credit risk associated with a loan application; and how to most successfully collect a debt, said the release. “Consumers are largely unaware of these scores, and have little to no access to the underlying data that comprises the scores.” The seminar on consumer-generated and controlled health data doesn’t have a confirmed date. It will cover the privacy implications of websites and applications that collect and analyze health information from users. The public can submit comments on each of these topics until a month after the seminar (http://1.usa.gov/18b91eF). The commission said it will release staff reports after each seminar.
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National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America plans a webinar on Intellectual Property Rights Import Protection, Compliance and Enforcement at 9 a.m. PST Dec. 11, it said. Presenters include John Clausen, IPR coordinator, CBP Center for Excellence and Expertise: Information Technology & Consumer Electronics, and George Tuttle of the George R. Tuttle law firm. Members price is $35, non-members $50.
Mexico’s recently-passed tax and customs law reform won’t have much direct effect on customs clearance, but it will wreak havoc on the balance sheets of many maquiladora factories along the border, said several Mexican customs and tax lawyers. The reform, which cleared its last hurdle in the Mexican senate Oct. 31, will introduce electronic audits, new self-disclosure provisions, and minor changes to the Mexican customs brokerage regime, the lawyers said. The law’s biggest impact on trade, however, will be from increased taxation of maquiladoras -- the bonded manufacturing facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border that produce goods for export -- through the imposition of a value added tax on temporary imports and the end of tax breaks.
Kim Campbell is the new board chair of the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers. She has been a board member since 2011, and is principal of Mkmarin Trade Services.
The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America scheduled a webinar on the status of eBond. The webinar is scheduled for 2 p.m. Dec. 12.
PortMiami formed a new task-force, along with CBP, called the "Transshipment Committee," officials there confirmed. The goal is to develop a pilot program for a "transshipment inspection protocol" for PortMiami. Officials said CBP’s increased inspections of transshipped goods since 9/11 results in cargo delays and added expenses. The goal is for terminals to provide CBP a list of all in-transit merchandise in advance, and for CBP to coordinate the expediting review of in-transit merchandise. CBP will also coordinate physical exams to assure goods are released expeditiously, officials said. As part of the effort, CBP assigned Robert Martin, chief of ATCET to work on the project, so terminal operators can directly contact Martin about delays. Kenneth Haeffner, the APD of Trade for CBP will handle “outreach” and work with the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association on a class to assure they understand all in bond requirements. The first quarterly meeting was Nov. 15, with the next likely in February, they said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 12-15 in case they were missed.
Nearly one-third of exporters have lost sales because of U.S. export regulations, according to the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) 2013 Export Survey (here). COAC members discussed the survey, the first of its kind, at a meeting on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C. Two of the main takeaways from the survey were the impact of export regulations on exporters and freight forwarders and the high cost of exports held at ports. One way the government could mitigate these negative outcomes is through flexible programs that target risk based on industry sector, said CBP’s Dan Baldwin.
CBP modified the National Customs Automation Program test that allows importers to use the Automated Broker Interface to file post-summary corrections (PSCs) of certain pre-liquidation ACE entry summaries (ESAR IV). The modifications to the ESAR IV test program "will allow filers greater access to data filed in ACE as it relates to the original entry and any subsequent PSC, limit certain additional data elements from being changed via PSC, and preclude a PSC on any entry that has been protested or where merchandise covered by the original entry has been conditionally released and its right to admission has not been determined," said CBP. CBP has been considering how to handle the question of greater data access since soon after the test was announced in 2011 (see 11081219).