CBP made big strides on numerous fronts for Automated Commercial Environment deployment, the agency said in a news release (here). CBP finished deploying all core manifest processing capabilities and 90 percent of core cargo release capabilities during fiscal year 2015, it said. CBP also moved closer to completing post-release and export deployments in ACE, it said. CBP also said it collected $1.2 billion in antidumping/countervailing duty deposits and "18 monetary penalties totaling over $60 million on importers for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence for AD/CVD violations." Additionally, "92 CBP audits of importers of AD/CVD commodities identified $69 million in AD/CVD discrepancies with $7 million collected to date," said CBP. The multiagency Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center initiated 368 seizures of unsafe imported products in FY15, an increase of 107 percent over the previous year, CBP said.

The Food and Drug Administration added a new document (here) to its website outlining valid Affirmation of Compliance (AofC) codes for entries filed in the Automated Commercial Environment. The document includes a list of valid codes, as well as short explanations and examples. Refer to FDA’s supplemental guide (here) to determine whether an AofC is required for a given entry, said FDA.

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

An increase to the de minimis threshold, the first of likely many changes to CBP's regulations due to the customs reauthorization law (see 1602260049), is expected to be a relatively easy update, said Mike Mullen, executive director of the Express Association of America. Mullen is involved in ongoing discussions between industry and CBP on the changes, which are targeted for implementation by March 10, he said during an interview on March 1. Mullen has long pushed for changes to de minimis on behalf of the group's members, which include UPS and FedEx.

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

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 22-26 in case they were missed.

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

Consumer Product Safety Commission commissioner Ann Marie Buerkle voiced frustration to House lawmakers on Feb. 25 over the agency’s proposed collection of user fees from importers to finance a new import screening system, and challenged the constitutionality of the potential federal action. “I continue to believe that our imposition of fees could and would and should raise constitutional concerns,” she said during a hearing of the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee. “We have a risk assessment methodology. So we apply that risk. Some products are subject to that. Some are not. And some fall prey and they get pulled because they’re high-risk. And so our benefit is only for some.” She said not all of industry will derive the same benefits from the fees, which means the user fee is a tax. CPSC doesn’t have the authority to levy taxes.

CBP formally spelled out its revised timeline for making the Automated Commercial Environment the sole Electronic Data Interchange for providing import data required by CBP and some other agencies in a notice (here). The notice follows CBP's recent decision to delay some mandatory use dates for ACE following readiness concerns (see 1602080042). "While significant progress has been made, continued concerns about trade readiness have necessitated an updated timeline for the mandatory transition to ACE for electronic entry and entry summary filing," said CBP. "As a result, CBP has developed a staggered transition strategy, to give the trade additional time to adjust their business practices and complete programming for entry and entry summary filing in ACE."

CBP made some changes in its draft Automated Commercial Environment business process document that reflect the new transition timeline (here). "The ACE Cargo Release Business Processes document provides an overview of processes, procedures and policies associated with the filing and release of entries in ACE," said CBP in a CSMS message (here). CBP posted a first draft last year and requested industry comments (see 1505180010).