On June 3, 2011, the fiscal year 2012 USDA and FDA1 Appropriations bill was introduced in the House after being reported by the House Appropriations Committee. The bill would cut FDA appropriations, project additional funding from user fees, and prohibit funding of payments to Brazil to settle a WTO cotton dispute. In its report, the Appropriations Committee also encourages FDA to establish a highly compliant importer pilot.
In the May 25, 2011 issue of the Customs Bulletin, CBP has issued an amended version of its 2005 mitigation guidelines1 for penalties involving advance electronic cargo information. The amended version is effective on publication2, and changes the language regarding C-TPAT members, newly lists the maximum penalty per conveyance arrival as $100,000, among other corrections and updates.
On May 26, 2011, the fiscal year 2012 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill was introduced in the House after being reported by the House Appropriations Committee. This bill would provide funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as other DHS agencies.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 16-20, 2011 in case they were missed last week.
At a May 17, 2011 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Bersin stated the agency is working with the Canada Border Services Agency on a new pre-clearance pilot as part of their perimeter approach to security and trade. Steps are also being taken to harmonize PIP and C-TPAT, and exchange staff at both countries targeting centers.
On May 17, 2011, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano and New Zealand's Foreign Minister signed a joint statement on global supply chain security cooperation to further strengthen the ongoing collaboration between the U.S. and New Zealand to make the global supply chain system stronger, smarter and more resilient.
The trade has submitted comments in response to the Food and Drug Administration’s request for input on its implementation of the import provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The comments focus on the FSMA’s requirements for a Foreign Supplier Verification Program, a Voluntary Qualified Importer Program, the certification of certain high-risk imported food, third-party auditors and accreditation, and the two FSMA definitions of “importer.” In general, FDA was urged to set broad goals over prescriptive requirements, recognize risk, and clearly define requirements and terms.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and two government ministries of China have reached agreement on collaborative actions to enhance trade security and facilitation between the two countries. The two countries also signed an action plan on supply chain security partnership programs.
The Counterfeit Pharmaceutical Inter-Agency Working Group1 has issued a report on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's and the Food and Drug Administration's increased enforcement actions against counterfeit pharmaceuticals in the supply chain, which include strategic import plans, penalties, and compliance measurement programs, among other things. The report also makes several legislative recommendations to Congress on how it can address this issue.
During recent trade events1, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials provided an update on both of CBP’s management by account pilots -- the Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEE) pilot for the pharmaceutical industry and the Account Executive (AE) pilot for selected companies in the electronics industry.