The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (here), signed into law by President Barack Obama on Feb. 24, establishes new requirements for customs brokers to verify the identities of their importer clients, as well as a new importer of record database. It also provides for CBP's National Targeting Center to issue "Trade Alerts" directing CBP port personnel to inspect high-risk merchandise, and directs CBP to accept private sector training on classification, appraisement, and other enforcement issues.

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

All live entries at the Los Angeles/Long Beach seaport filed within Automated Commercial Environment Cargo Release should go directly to CBP's financial team in Long Beach, said CBP Port Director Carlos Martel in a public bulletin on Feb. 23. "Since ACE Cargo Release is considered a paperless program, brokers/filers will only be required to submit in a green folder, CBP Form 7501 or 7501A, with a check attached to the Financial Team," said Martel. "The invoice, packing list, and remaining supporting documents shall be uploaded onto the Document Image System."

The new processes for antidumping and countervailing duty evasion investigations and intellectual property rights protections are likely to be some of the first items addressed by the CBP once customs reauthorization legislation is signed by President Obama, said Alice Kipel, CBP's new executive director of regulations and rulings (ORR), during a Feb. 23 interview. Only about two months into her new job (see 1602120034), Kipel already faces the daunting task of prioritizing some of the biggest changes in the agency's long history. In addition to implementation to the customs bill, Kipel will help oversee the regulatory process for Automated Commercial Environment rules as well as look to improve speeds on customs rulings responses, she said.

The Food and Drug Administration recently posted a list of valid unit of measure codes for filings in the Automated Commercial Environment (here) to its ACE/ITDS webpage (here). Use of a code not included on the list will result in an ACE entry rejection, said FDA. Each level of packaging should be declared, and the same code cannot be declared more than once, it said. The list also includes examples for each commodity type.

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. 16-19 in case they were missed.

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

Customs brokers play a central role in the Energy Department’s plans to require submission of “certifications of admissibility” data elements in the Automated Commercial Environment at time of entry for products subject to energy efficiency standards, said DOE officials speaking at a workshop held Feb. 19 in Washington. A key motive behind the agency’s proposal is that it will prompt brokers to ask their importer clients whether products included in a given entry are subject to energy efficiency standards, forcing the importer to consider whether testing and certification are required, they said.

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