The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Oct. 7, remotely, beginning at 1 p.m. EDT, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by Oct. 6. The COAC will hear from the following subcommittees on the topics listed below and then will review, deliberate and formulate recommendations on how to proceed on those topics:

International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories from Aug. 17-21 in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.

CBP recently finished a “final draft” of a document creating a 21st Century Customs Framework, Vincent Annunziato, director of CBP’s business transformation office, said during the American Association of Exporters and Importers virtual conference Aug. 19. The draft includes five pillars: Enhance Facilitation and Security, Define Customs and Trade Responsibilities, Ensure Seamless Data Sharing, Employ Intelligent Enforcement, and Protect and Enhance Customs Infrastructure Through Secure Funding, he said. CBP said last year it hoped to begin introducing some policy changes around the framework this year (see 1907250028).

CBP should “exercise discretion” when using its withhold release order (WRO) authority to address forced labor violations, leaving space for importers to use their leverage to get suppliers to change their illegal practices, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intelligent Enforcement subcommittee said in draft recommendations released ahead of the July 15 COAC meeting.

CBP's abrupt shift in policy for case-by-case customs duty deferrals amounts to additional risk to the smaller companies that are facing existential threats due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2003260047), the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization said in a March 26 email. “BACM is disappointed with CBP’s decision to stop accepting individual requests to defer the payment of customs duties, taxes and fees,” said Sidley Austin lawyer Ted Murphy, who represents the group. “We understood that this was meant to be a short-term measure to help primarily small and medium-sized companies deal with the devastating impact COVID-19 is having on the U.S. economy, while CBP pursued a more comprehensive solution applicable to all importers,” he said in response to a request for comment. “CBP’s decision will hurt those small and medium-sized businesses the most.” CBP announced on March 26 it would no longer take requests to defer payments of customs duties, less than a week after saying it would consider such requests.

CBP should look at “extending the liquidation of all unliquidated entries by 90 or 180 days,” the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization told the agency in a March 23 letter. Those extensions “would help ensure that importers who may be eligible for duty refunds (e.g., based on Section 232 or Section 301 product exclusion approvals) do not miss opportunities to pursue such refunds administratively due to staffing issues caused by COVID-19.” BACM offered its support for deferring collections of customs duties and asked “that payments related to past liabilities, such as denied protests, also be temporarily deferred.” BACM suggested several other items it said “would help ease the burden on the trade community during this time.”

A new working group within the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) is reviewing the risks and benefits around remote and autonomous cargo processing, according to a CBP issue paper released ahead of the Dec. 4 COAC meeting. “Drones, driverless vehicles, captainless ships -- autonomous delivery is already operating within borders to deliver goods to customers,” it said in the paper. The government should examine the risks and opportunities created by the technologies, CBP said. “As CBP embarks on autonomous processes and conditions, it needs to realize impacts and benefits to industry.”

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet Dec. 4, beginning at 1 p.m., in Washington, CBP said in a notice.

LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich. -- CBP is still wrapping its head around how it would enforce labor wage content requirements for automobiles under the renegotiated NAFTA, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade, at the Automotive Industry Action Group Customs Town Hall on Nov. 7.

CBP's proposed rule to impose new importer verification requirements on brokers would transfer the government's oversight of importers on to brokers, FedEx said in comments to CBP on the proposal (see 1908130031). "CBP, as a law enforcement agency, should be the party primarily charged with verifying importer identity for security purposes," the company said. CBP should instead implement Section 114 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, which called on CBP "to develop criteria that an importer must meet in order to obtain an" Importer of Record number, FedEx said.