U.S. Customs and Border Protection is announcing that the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on December 7, 2011 in Washington, D.C. There will be comment opportunities before and during the meeting, and the registration deadline to attend or listen to the webcast is December 5.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for November 7-10, 2011 in case they were missed last week.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently posted information on improvements to the C-TPAT Portal (Release 65 - Adjusted Scorecard Post Response) that deployed on November 12, 2011. Among other things, this release includes a new "Adjusted Scorecard" that provides points to C-TPAT participants that implement required actions or recommendations during the response period for CBP's Validation Report.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection states that a new release of the C-TPAT Portal (Adjusted Scorecard Post Response) was to deploy on November 12, 2011. Key points include giving the trade credit for response actions, rewriting the validation response page to differentiate treatment of (i) actions required and (ii) recommendations for an adjusted score, and asking partners if they implemented a recommendation or not.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice announcing its plan to conduct a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP)1 test on ACE simplified entry capability. The test will reduce the information participants must file with CBP prior to arrival in the U.S. to 12 required, and three optional data elements. The initial phase of the test will only be for the air transportation mode and is available for nine accounts. Parties interested in participating in the test should contact CBP by November 17, 2011.
At the October 4, 2011 COAC meeting, COAC and CBP officials discussed the work of the Global Supply Chain-Land Border Security Initiatives Subcommittee on issues such as expanding Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism to exports and cross-dock operations and providing a tiered C-TPAT structure for truck carriers. The subcommittee also discussed an electronic FAST concept with no stopping at the bridge or booth.
The World Customs Organization reports that Colombia launched its Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program at a high-level event on September 28-29, 2011. The WCO states that in addition to Colombian Customs, other border agencies (such as Agriculture, Health, and Drug Control) are part of this program which provides the status of "trusted partner" to business that achieve certification. The AEO program, which is similar to C-TPAT, is a core part of the WCO's Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate global trade (SAFE).
In conjunction with the October 4, 2011 COAC meeting, CBP posted an issue paper which provides an update on land border pre-inspection in Mexico and Canada. According to the issue paper, CBP has identified three possible pilot locations at which to evaluate cargo pre-screening and pre-inspection -- Otay Mesa, CA, Santa Teresa, NM (FOXCONN), and Port Huron, MI.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced the permanent establishment of the Center of Excellence and Expertise (CEE) for Pharmaceuticals, which previously functioned as a pilot program. CBP has also established a permanent CEE for Electronics, which previously functioned as an Account Executive (AE) pilot. With this action, CBP sources state the agency is combining the AE and CEE pilot concepts in the new Centers, expanding the scope of the two Centers to cover additional industries, and is beginning operational processing for trusted partners.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has provided information on what it views as the benefits and process improvements that can be expected with the future implementation of Cargo Release in ACE. CBP states that the release process for legitimate cargo will be facilitated through process improvements, including, among other things, the creation of a single window for import data transmission, reduced redundant data requirements, paperless updates, and templates of repeated entries for trusted traders.