CBP continues to fail to collect vast sums of potential revenue in import duties on certain Chinese agriculture and seafood products that entered the U.S. since 2002, along with associated bonds posted on the imports, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., at the Jan. 15 Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Gil Kerlikowske for CBP Commissioner (see 14011521).

Entries submitted to CBP missing invoices require a new entry and cannot be updated in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) with a Post Summary Correction (PSC), CBP said in a CSMS message. The ACE Business Rules and Process Document "is currently being revised to include this additional guidance," CBP said.

CBP must ensure all efforts are exhausted to complete the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) in a timely manner and modernize the U.S. export process in order to fuel growth in the U.S. trade community, Gil Kerlikowske told the Senate Finance Committee at a Jan. 15 hearing to consider his nomination for CBP commissioner. President Barack Obama nominated Kerlikowske for the post in August (see 13080219). “CBP needs to continue to prioritize completion of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), that is the electronic automated system for the efficient transmission of data to all U.S. government agencies and that will ensure efficient and timely release of cargo,” said Kerlikowske. “I will devote a significant amount of time to ensure that very expensive computer system is up and running and performs the way it should for commerce.”

The customs brokers have been and will continue to be a necessary part of CBP's trade mission, but coming regulatory changes may require some "reinvention" within the industry, said Al Gina, a former head of CBP's Office of International Trade. Similarly, CBP made some major adjustments during Gina's time there due to new budgetary constraints, an issue that continues to loom over CBP as it works to develop both long and short-term initiatives, he said. Gina, who recently retired from the agency and is now a partner at CT Strategies (see 13111217), discussed a number of agency initiatives and his new work during a wide-ranging interview on Jan. 9.

CBP will add several Missouri ports to the Simplified Entry pilot, said Scarbrough International, a pilot participant, in a press release. CBP recently told the company it will add the Port of St. Louis, Kansas City Airport and Springfield Airport to the program, Scarbrough said. The pilot, now officially called the Automated Commercial Environment Cargo Release, was recently expanded (see 13110115). “As one of only a few brokers nationally with the permissions and capabilities to transmit a Simplified Entry, we are very pleased to be the voice for the Midwest and represent the many international businesses in our region that utilize Missouri airports to fulfill their supply chain and logistics needs,” said Adam Hill, vice president of Operations for Scarbrough

CBP New York/Newark released statistics in a pipeline notice showing the "cycle time measurement" of Centralized Examination Stations from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. The cycle times refer to the time from ocean container arrival, as transmitted via the Automated Commercial Environment, through final examination completion as recorded in the Cargo Enforcement Reporting and Tracking System.

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

As a new feature, International Trade Today will periodically feature a Q&A with a customs industry professional. Our interviewee for the inaugural Q&A is Amy Magnus, Director of Customs Affairs & Compliance at A.N. Deringer. Magnus is heavily involved within the customs world and served several different roles within customs broker trade associations, at both national and regional levels. Magnus also worked for CBP for 18 years before joining the private sector. Some of the questions and answers have been slightly edited.

CBP was scheduled to deploy its second piece of Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) under its new "agile" development program on Jan. 4, it said in a fact sheet on its site. The implementation will allow for an expansion of the Simplified Entry pilot. CBP didn't comment.