CBP collected $37 billion in duties during fiscal year 2015, up 6.6 percent from the previous year, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske during a Feb. 19 speech at the Tampa Bay Safety and Risk Mitigation Summit (here). The agency also processed 33 million import entries and 26.3 million cargo containers, he said. With NAFTA leading the way, "special programs and Free Trade Agreements represented approximately 27 percent of total U.S. imports, by value," Kerlikowske said.
CBP posted its agenda and some other agency documents for the upcoming Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) meeting on Jan. 13. Among the posted items is a subcommittee status report from the Office of Trade Relations (here). The COAC will form a new working group to make recommendations for customs broker regulations updates and to "promote transparency and collaboration among stakeholders with equities in 19 CFR 111," said CBP in the report. "With these recommendations, CBP will publish" a notice "describing the anticipated changes and solicit comments." The agenda is (here).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2015 in case they were missed.
The submission rate for cargo release continues to edge up, with some 11.6 percent of cargo release entries in the Automated Commercial Environment as of November, according to CBP's presentation that was part of an webinar hosted by Integration Point on Dec. 15 (here). CBP reported a 10.2 percent submission rate in October. The low levels of cargo release submissions is a source of some concern at CBP ahead of the ACE transition dates (see 1510190017 and 1511050059).
The House’s recent passage of customs reauthorization (see 1512110029) is a step toward improvements to the “safety, security and efficiency” of cross-border trucking and the Senate should "quickly" follow suit, said the American Trucking Associations in a news release on Dec. 15. "Trucks move the majority of freight between the U.S. and its neighbors Mexico and Canada," ATA CEO Bill Graves said. "This compromise bill will help move that commerce safely and efficiently across those borders and we urge not only its quick passage, but urge President Obama to sign it into law." ATA highlighted the bill’s exemption of residue in bulk cargo containers from full duty requirements, a “key provision” that ATA said would improve the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the general customs process.
CBP signed a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) with the Dominican Republic to allow for consideration of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Authorized Economic Partnership programs at the borders, said CBP (here). CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske signed the arrangement on behalf of the U.S. and Dominican Customs Director General Fernando Fernandez signed for the Dominican Republic, said CBP. The MRA marks the 11th such arrangement the U.S. is in, said CBP.
CBP will soon add Advanced Qualified Unlading Approval (AQUA) Lane privileges at CBP Port Everglades in Florida, said the port in an information bulletin. After Dec. 13, "requests to start cargo processing will only be granted through AQUA Lane," it said. The program is meant to allow for expedited vessel entrance for sea carriers that are Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) certified, said CBP. Vessel agents must submit CBP Form 3171 with the Notice of Arrival to request AQUA Lange privileges and CBP will respond with a decision by email, said the port. "AQUA Lane, a joint partnership between CBP/C-TPAT, sea carriers and world trade associations will benefit all partners, as it will enhance CBP's utilization of resources and facilitate increased partnership in securing the overall supply chain," it said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 2-6 in case they were missed.
BALTIMORE -- CBP is pressing the countries that have signed customs mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) with the U.S. to keep up their end of the bargain by providing agreed-upon benefits to members of the Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism, said Todd Owen, assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Field Operations. So far, the 10 countries that have currently signed MRAs are not delivering on their guarantees, so CBP is meeting with their customs agencies on a “senior level” to “reopen dialogue on promises that were made,” said Owen, speaking during CBP’s East Coast Trade Symposium on Nov. 4.
Funding shortfalls are hampering CBP’s ability to ensure nuclear and radiological material doesn’t enter U.S. territory, said a representative of the American Association of Port Authorities in testimony to the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on Oct. 27 (here). Port authorities across the country are criticizing the CBP’s failure to effectively update radiation port monitors (RPMs) at U.S. ports, said Joseph Lawless, director of maritime security at the Massachusetts Port Authority.