NEWTON, Mass. -- As CBP wraps up implementation of its Centers for Excellence and Expertise, the next focus for the agency will be on exports, said Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski in a speech at the Northeast Cargo Symposium on Nov. 7. "The area of exports represents a huge opportunity," said Winkowski at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) event. "If we're going to be competitive in the world market, we have to reduce costs in how we do business day in and day out," he said. That means ensuring compliance not only with U.S. export requirements, but also with the regulatory system in the importing country so that goods aren't held up at the port overseas.
CBP is up to 1,626 total Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) validations, including 432 initial validations and 1,194 revalidations, the agency said in an update on C-TPAT achievements. CBP has said it plans to get through 2,200 validations this year (see 13060627). There has also been a total of 1,719 suspensions and 1,261 C-TPAT removals.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 28-Nov. 1 in case they were missed.
Customs brokers and importer self-filers in CBP's Simplified Entry pilot will no longer be required to have Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) status to test the program, CBP said in a notice. The agency is expanding the pilot program and officially rebranding it as the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Cargo Release test, said CBP.
CBP released the agenda for the Nov. 15 meeting with the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (COAC) in Washington, D.C. CBP also said the meeting will be available online and registration is available (here).
CBP will likely take into account the various compliance difficulties that are created by the government shutdown, said former Acting CBP Commissioner David Aguilar, who now works at Global Security and Intelligence Strategies, a consulting firm. "Where there is latitude within the statutes or within the authority or the policies," consideration of some the problems created by the shutdown will likely be involved, he said in an interview. "Where timely information is a requisite" and "that information flow is unavailable, that will certainly be taken into account." As the government shutdown appears likely to move into its third week, resolution of the budget issues remain uncertain.
Those involved in international trade were reporting relatively few impacts of the government shutdown, in its second day, but expressing concerns about the longer term. Most industry officials told us traffic continues moving through ports and airports.
CBP made available a full report on the Aug. 7 meeting of the CBP Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC). Among the subcommittee recommendations at the meeting were:
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 16-20 in case they were missed.
CBP is actively considering a recent proposal from the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association (NCBFAA) that would allow brokers to differentiate importers that a broker has gathered some basic information on, said CBP Acting Commissioner Tom Winkowski on Sept. 23. Winkowski, who spoke at the NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference, said "details of this proposal are being discussed," but "we believe the brokerage community is in a unique position to understand their clients' needs and business process and we want to leverage that expertise to enhance compliance." The NCBFAA submitted information on the proposal, called the "Broker Known Importer" program, earlier this year (see 13041124).