PHOENIX -- Plans for a rulemaking to eliminate hybrid filing as part of the ACE transition remain unsettled, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade in an interview at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 25. The agency is being "very careful because that would be a significant change in policy," she said. "Right now we're trying to decide, does it make sense," she said. CBP is "still having that internal discussion," but will "need to communicate" a decision in "the fairly near future," Smith said. CBP previously sought input on prohibiting filings that are a combination of electronic and paper filings (see 1510090017), which drew some concerns within industry (see 1511100030).

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:

PHOENIX -- CBP will establish a five year plan meant to "sharpen expertise" at the agency, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade while speaking at the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 25. The plan is a response to retiring specialists within the agency as well as an ongoing modernization at CBP, she said. CBP will use a combination of virtual training, in-person courses, rotation "within CBP and other government agencies," and more interaction with industry, said Smith.

Entry summaries for type 06 foreign trade zone entries that are also subject to antidumping and countervailing duties should be filed in the Automated Commercial System until further notice, said CBP (here). “The ADCVD information is not writing over to ACS, resulting in statements not processing correctly,” said CBP. “A bug has been created and is actively being worked on,” it said. CBP has set a May 28 deadline for filing of type 06 entries and entry summaries with either no PGA data or with Lacey Act or National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data in ACE (see 1602080042).

The ACE pilot on filing of data required by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is expected to end in June, said CBP (here), presumably opening up FSIS for full ACE filing. That will be followed in July by the end of ACE pilots on filing of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service “core” (i.e., non-Lacey Act) data and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) data. CBP has set a July 23 deadline for all entries and entry summaries under most entry types in ACE (see 1605200034). Pilots for APHIS Lacey Act, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data are already over, with filing now open to all.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 16-20 in case they were missed.

CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:

Federal agencies with a hand in regulating trade released their regulatory schedules as part of the Spring 2016 Unified Agenda (here). Alongside customs regulations set for publication by the Treasury Department (see 1605230009 and Department of Homeland Security 1605190046), the Department of Agriculture and National Marine Fisheries Service set an ambitious agenda of trade-related rulemaking, including new seafood permit and filing requirements and Lacey Act forfeiture regulations. Other agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and EPA, continue to list regulations on drug imports and formaldehyde standards that have been in the pipeline for years without activity, scheduling their publication with the next several months.

The Treasury Department published its spring 2016 regulatory agenda for CBP (here), which mentions a new proposed rulemaking to eliminate "hybrid" customs filings. The proposal (here) includes "new regulations that will require filers submitting entry or entry summary data electronically in ACE also to file associated [International Trade Data System] Agency data electronically in ACE, subject to limited exceptions," it said. "This rule will make each discrete entry or entry summary more uniform, as each transaction will be filed entirely in electronic format or entirely in paper format. This will enhance the ability of the U.S. Government to enforce the legal requirements pertaining to those transactions."