A recently started campaign is working to push back against momentum for changes at CBP that could lessen the need for individually licensed customs brokers. The campaign, called "See a Broker, Save a Broker," was started in response to coming capabilities within CBP's Automated Commercial Environment that would allow for expanded Remote Location Filing (RLF), potentially meaning a single broker's license is all that would be necessary for importers across the country. "The national permit coupled with full blown RLF not only threatens our profession through lost jobs and core missions to protect the revenue and borders by reducing the ranks currently enlisted in this shared responsibility, it also devalues the individual license holder through declining demand," the campaign said.

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

Coming regulatory changes at CBP will soon make the notion of district permits "a wholly irrelevant artifact," the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) said on its website. The NCBFAA recently made a point to make clear to its members that revisions to the broker permitting structure were in the works and industry engagement would be important (see 14042116) "While there appears to be strong sentiment to keep the current [district permitting system], that really is not an option," the group said.

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

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America posted some of the presentations given during the group's annual conference April. 7-10. The presentations include:

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

Users that have the latest version of Java software are having problems with Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) reports, said CBP in a CSMS message. Such users will see an error message displayed inside a blank report’s tab after clicking the title of any ACE report, said CBP. "CBP has investigated the issue and learned of a setting inside the Java Control Panel that suppresses the error message and allows users to run reports successfully," the agency said. Instructions for fixing the problem within Java are (here).

LAS VEGAS -- The place for Remote Location Filing within the virtual Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is yet to be decided at this point, said Brenda Brockman Smith, executive director of the ACE business office at CBP. Smith, who spoke at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 9, also said she expects the agency to add some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) elements to the system before CBP begins to require all trade filing in ACE.

CBP should revise its regulations for customs brokers to expand the definition of "corporate compliance activity," the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) said in comments recently filed with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). RILA's comments, filed in response to a DHS request for public input on regulatory changes it should consider (see 14022621), focused on a wide range of CBP regulations that the association said deserve review. The retailers were one of only a few commenters that raised customs issues with DHS.

CBP is looking into merchandise processing fees (MPF) problems for Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Entry Summaries filed with Chapter 98 numbers, said CBP. The agency said it has gotten some reports of filers receiving MPF errors for such filings since CBP's latest deployment of new features within ACE on April 5.