ORLANDO -- After several companies expressed interest to the government to get Foreign-Trade Zone benefits without goods transiting a physical FTZ location, the FTZ Board and CBP jointly determined there is no basis to grant such perks, FTZ Board Executive Secretary Andrew McGilvray said Oct. 18 during the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones annual conference. That's because of the Foreign-Trade Zones Act and a law passed in 2000 that affects weekly entry, he said. Speaking Oct. 17 during the same conference, Jim Swanson, director of cargo security and controls in CBP’s Office of Field Operations, said that big companies approached the government to explore a “virtual” FTZ, highlighting that FTZ-afforded weekly entries would help them avoid paying merchandise processing fees.
The U.S. and Canadian single window data requirements are about as closely aligned as possible, the White House said in its 2015 Beyond the Border Implementation Report (here). "To better align single window programs in each country, CBP and the [Canada Border Services Agency] have harmonized 96% of their single window data requirements (the remaining 4% relate to data requirements specific to each country)," the White House said. The report details recent progress on the Beyond the Border plan, a combined effort by the two countries to improve travel and trade processing.
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ontario -- The Canada Border Services Agency looks set to streamline its plans for upcoming advanced import data transmission requirements for importers, similar to the U.S. Importer Security Filing, as it moves toward implementation of the eManifest importer requirement by 2018 at the earliest, according to panelists from CBSA and the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers at the CSCB National Conference on Sept. 26. Rather than require two separate transmissions, CBSA will instead require filing at the same time and in the same system as cargo release data, said Melanie Bedard of Milgram & Company, who led the panel discussion.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept.19-23 in case they were missed.
CBP recently added several ports to its Advanced Qualified Unlading Approval (AQUA) program that allows some carriers to unlade cargo before meeting with CBP, the agency said in a list of frequently asked questions on the program (here). Sea carriers that are in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program that "have been validated and are in good standing at the time of unlading" are eligible to participate in AQUA, CBP said. The ports of Miami, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, Savannah and Seattle/Tacoma began participation on Sept. 15. The ports of Charleston; Houston; Jacksonville; Honolulu; Philadelphia; Boston; San Juan; Norfolk, Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware; and Wilmington, North Carolina will take part starting Dec. 15, CBP said. Initial participants were the ports in New Orleans, Baltimore, Oakland and Port Everglades, Florida (see 1511250011).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept.12-16 in case they were missed.
CBP’s import scanning should provide more benefits for Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) participants and remain risk-based, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said Sept. 13. “C-TPAT does need some additional work,” he said during the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America Government Affairs Conference in Washington. “If you’re a C-TPAT member and you’re valued and you’ve reached those top tiers, we need to enhance the benefits very much there.” Kerlikowske indicated that a risk-based scanning approach would dovetail with providing greater trusted trader benefits, and that such a method would be more realistic and efficient than a congressional mandate requiring all incoming U.S. cargo to be scanned via X-ray, which can be extended every two years with lawmakers’ approval. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson last notified Congress of such an extension in May (see 1605310028).
Several trade groups offered support and small tweaks in comments on a proposed rulemaking from the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) meant to support the International Trade Data System (ITDS) (see 1606200029). Commenters on the proposed changes, which would revise electronic Certificates of Label Approval (COLA) filing and other regulations, didn't lodge any major concerns within the submissions (here). "With a few 'builds,' we believe that the components set forth in this proposal will streamline the import process and facilitate electronic filings," the Distilled Spirits Council (DSC) said in its comments (here).
CBP released the full texts of the 11 existing Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) signed by the U.S. and foreign customs administrators. The texts, which weren't previously made available by CBP, were provided to International Trade Today in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. "After consultation and evaluation of the documents, CBP FOIA has determined that they may be released to you in full, with no redactions," CBP's FOIA Division Branch Chief Patrick Howard said in a letter. "A copy of the MRAs will also be placed in our Reading Room for future public use." The U.S. currently has MRAs with New Zealand, Canada, Jordan, Japan, Korea, the EU, Taiwan, Israel, Mexico, Singapore and the Dominican Republic. The MRAs allow CBP to consider participation in other customs regimes' trusted trader programs as similar to participating in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program and vice versa.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet July 27 in Boston, CBP said in a notice (here).