International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 4-8 in case they were missed.
CBP's deployment and full use of ACE capabilities offers the biggest chance to lessen regulation and related costs, Boeing and others said in comments to CBP. The comments came in response to a CBP solicitation for input on regulations seen as deserving elimination or changes (see 1709110004). "We believe that moving to a fully paperless environment and ensuring maximum utilization of the ACE Portal will be the one achievement that will have the most significant positive effect on streamlining and reducing regulations, and for that reason it should be the priority focus of a regulatory review," Boeing said.
ATLANTA -- Northern border trade with Canada could see some disruptions if Canada moves forward with its plans to legalize marijuana on July 1, said Todd Owen, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Field Operations, at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 6. CBP will stop trucks at the border if there has been an indication of drug use or the presence of drugs in the vehicle, he said. “We are going to be stopping more trucks and more people at the border,” he said. Those who know the Northern border know already that “we don’t have a lot of room to do a lot of secondary inspections,” Owen said. “You need to be paying attention to this, because we are not going to be surging resources to the Northern border to allocate for this,” he said.
ATLANTA -- CBP has created a “catalog” for operational and proposed benefits for its Trusted Trader pilot, CBP's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Director Elizabeth Schmelzinger said Dec. 6 during her agency’s East Coast Trade Symposium. She called the list a “real repository” that includes “benefits that have been proposed for a very long time that are awaiting either a chance for automation, funding for automation,” and benefits for which “there’s a required regulatory change to make that implementation happen, or a legislative change to make that implementation happen.”
House lawmakers used a fast-track procedural action to pass legislation reauthorizing the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. The bill, which lawmakers had deemed uncontroversial enough to spare from the longer regular vote process, now moves to the Senate for consideration. The C-TPAT Reauthorization Act would authorize CBP to establish additional and updated security criteria, direct CBP to consider extending C-TPAT benefits to importers of non-containerized cargo and “non-asset-based” third-party logistics providers, and require an annual assessment of tangible benefits being realized by program participants (see 1710230036).
The House of Representatives is scheduled to consider legislation reauthorizing the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program on Oct. 23, according to a schedule of the day’s events sent by the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. The bill would authorize CBP to establish additional and updated security criteria, direct CBP to consider extending C-TPAT benefits to importers of non-containerized cargo and “non-asset-based” third-party logistics providers, and require an annual assessment of tangible benefits being realized by program participants (see 1709070034). The House will also hold a vote on the International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act, which would expand the use of chemical screening devices to detect narcotics arriving at U.S. ports shipped through international mail and express carriers (see 1709050035). The bills will be considered under suspension of the rules, which allows for quick approval of non-controversial legislation.
CBP "is continuing to work towards" Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) or "similar recognition" with several countries, including China and India, CBP Office of Field Operations Executive Assistant Commissioner Todd Owen said in written testimony for the House Homeland Security Transportation and Protective Security Subcommittee. The subcommittee held a Sept. 26 hearing on aviation security. Other countries mentioned were Brazil, Peru, Uruguay. MRAs allow for consideration of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Authorized Economic Partnership programs at the borders.
Cybersecurity and in-transit cargo are among the expected areas of focus for new minimum security requirements (MSRs) under the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, CBP officials said during the recent C-TPAT conference in Detroit. According to an update from Livingston's Strategic Analysis Director Philip Sutter, CBP mentioned those as focal points without getting into specifics other than timing. "During FY 2018, CBP will be quantifying the cost and benefits of the amended MSRs," Sutter said. "They will prepare for implementation and launch a multi-year phased implementation of the MSRs in FY 2019." The C-TPAT director gave an outline of various C-TPAT initiatives during a recent interview (see 1709070010).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 5-8 in case they were missed.
CBP’s Office of Field Operations has tentatively come up with some “parameters” for how it will handle Section 321 clearances going forward, said Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo conveyance security and controls, at a National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on Sept. 11. The agency has agreed on a two-track solution, allowing continued clearance in the Automated Manifest System while providing new capabilities for Section 321 in the Automated Broker Interface, he said. ABI filing will include a 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number as a data element, with the importer of record potentially optional, he said.