New forced labor requirements for Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) members may change the calculus for determining whether participation is worth it, said Sidley Austin lawyer Ted Murphy, in an Aug. 22 note. He reminded companies that if the shifting requirements become more costly than participation is worth, they can leave the program.
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CBP posted its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Trade Compliance handbook on July 28. "This handbook provides an overview of the major changes and improved industry benefits that have led to the modernization of CTPAT’s Trade Compliance program and detailed instructions for applying and maintaining partnership," CTPAT Director Manuel Garza said.
CBP is making progress on its new vessel entrance and clearing system (VECS) and hopes to release a pilot program “later this year,” said Brian Sale, CBP’s branch chief for vessel operations. The agency will release a Federal Register notice this week announcing a new Vessel Agency Account type within the Automated Commercial Environment, Sale said, which will allow users to eventually participate in the pilot.
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CBP should not require “comprehensive supply chain mapping” as part of its requirements for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism forced labor component, and should update the requirements so that mapping is done via a risk-based approach, said Kerry Novak, who sits on the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee, in recommendations she read at the COAC’s June 29 meeting.
Final recommendations of the 21st Century Customs Framework Modernization task force include mandatory partner government agency trusted trader programs under the CTPAT framework and authorization to reduce the merchandise processing fee (MPF) for CTPAT members, among other things, according to a document released in advance of a vote on the recommendations at the June 29 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee.
The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet remotely June 29, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by June 24.
Sidley Austin Partner Ted Murphy noted in his blog that while it is not easy to document that imports do not contain Xinjiang content, "we believe that it will be easier (and quicker) for most companies to demonstrate that articles do not contain Xinjiang content (or production by yet-to-be listed entities), than it will be to rebut the presumption of forced labor (which is likely to be a long-drawn out process)."
TUCSON, Arizona -- CBP will be issuing its guidance on the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act prior to the new law’s June 21 effective date, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference May 4. The guidance, which will “provide transparency to CBP’s operational approach,” will be out “very, very soon,” he said.