U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site an April 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.
During U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) recent Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) Supply Chain Security Training Seminar in Miami, FL, CBP Commissioner Bonner spoke about a number of C-TPAT-related issues, including:
The Journal of Commerce reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has unveiled Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) Plus, which will provide participants with a "green lane" (i.e., no inspections upon arrival and immediate release of cargo). However, the article notes that even if importers obtain immediate release from CBP, other government agencies, including the FDA and USDA, can hold up cargo for hours, days, weeks, or months with little evidence of a violation. (JoC, dated 04/11/05, www.joc.com)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site a presentation from the April 18-21, 2005 Supply Chain Security Training Seminar for certified Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) members held in Miami, FL.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a notice announcing that the next meeting of the Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Functions (COAC) will be held on May 5, 2005 in Washington, DC. (This committee was previously called the "Treasury Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of the U.S. Customs Service.")
The Wall Street Journal reports that Mexico's maquiladora industry, considered an indicator of U.S. manufacturing strength, witnessed significant hiring turnaround in 2004, as employment increased for the first time since 2000. (WSJ dated 03/22/05, www.wsj.com.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated its document on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) entitled Information for New Accounts - Account Activation Process, which summarizes the relevant data to be gathered and submitted by trade participants and explains the Account Access Privileges for each user-type (i.e. brokers, carriers, and importers) to access the ACE Secure Data Portal.
An editorial in The Journal of Commerce opines that information-based risk assessment in the maritime environment is inappropriate due to the chance that a terrorist seeking to pull off a single attack could use the most 'secure' of containers - one belonging to a trusted C-TPAT importer. Instead, Stephen Flynn, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, states that a three-pronged approach is needed, consisting of smart-box sensors inside the container, nuclear-detection devices at the seaport, and gamma-ray imaging. (JoC ,dated 03/28/05, www.joc.com )
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its Web site the March 2005 issue of its U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modernization newsletter which discusses, among other things, CBP's plan to launch (i.e., implement) the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Release 4 (Truck Manifest) at ports in geographic clusters, starting with the Blaine cluster.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted to its web site the new C-TPAT Security Criteria for Importers. This new security criteria document is dated March 25, 2005 and is identical to the final draft version of these standards previously made available in International Trade Today.