CBP may soon implement increased bonding requirements for new importers that are bringing in merchandise subject to antidumping and countervailing duties, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) Intelligent Enforcement Subcommittee said in a report. CBP hopes to issue a Federal Register notice in August setting new single transaction bond requirements as early as Sept. 21 or Sept. 28, the report said. But the COAC will recommend the new requirements be delayed until bonding formulas can be worked out, the report said.

CHICAGO -- CBP plans to present its 21st Century Customs Framework to senior leadership for approval in August and introduce policy changes within the next year, a CBP official said at the agency’s Trade Symposium on July 23. CBP is finalizing a “fairly detailed roadmap” for the framework and expects it to make “measurable, fundamental changes,” Brandon Lord, CBP’s deputy executive director for trade, policy and programs, said during the conference. Since the agency announced the framework with a request for public comments in December (see 1812200003), Lord said CBP has tried to pinpoint “substantive changes” the agency can make through policy updates. CBP has focused on three issues from the public comments, he said: “streamlining the entry process,” “seamless information sharing” and creating a “robust framework for the e-commerce environment.”

CBP would like to use the ongoing discussion around the 21st century customs framework (see 1903040023) as a way to review some of the most basic ways the agency looks at trade, said Thomas Overacker, CBP executive director, Cargo and Conveyance Security on June 28 while at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference in Washington. Hypotheticals mentioned by CBP officials as discussion starters included a rewrite of the entry language in 19 CFR 141 and whether drawback remains a necessary program.

CBP is seeking comments by Aug. 5 on an existing information collection for CBP record-keeping requirements. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection with no change to the record-keeping requirements or to the estimated burden hours associated with the collection.

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet May 30 in Laredo, Texas, CBP said in a notice.

The widespread use of Electronic Cargo Security Devices (eCSDs) would create many new benefits to both private industry and the border enforcement agencies, logistics company Expeditors International said in April 11 comments in CBP's docket on creating a 21st Century Customs Framework. "Trade interests and Customs interests both would be well served if the same trade facilitation benefits currently given to CSDs were afforded to eCSDs," Expeditors said. Such devices would be one way to improve trade security within the e-commerce supply chain, the company said.

Several industry representatives voiced frustrations about e-commerce’s impact on U.S. importers at a March 1 CBP meeting (see 1902110020), calling for a more streamlined filing system and a crackdown on foreign sellers. A common complaint by the industry leaders was a lack of transparency from foreign companies when they sell through online marketplaces. The public meeting, titled “The 21st Century Customs Framework,” featured multiple panels of industry representatives offering suggestions and criticisms of the current customs system to government officials from CBP, the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission, among others.

CBP issued a notice in the Federal Register formally announcing the change in location for its March 1 meeting on “The 21st Century Customs Framework.” As previously detailed in an earlier communication (see 1902070033), the meeting will now be held at the Commerce Department building in Washington. CBP is also opening up the meeting to more in-person and teleconference attendees, and included links for registration in the notice. “Participants who have previously registered do not need to re-register,” CBP said.

CBP is now accepting claims for drawback on Section 301 duties on products from China, said John Leonard, executive director-trade policy and programs, on a conference call held Jan. 23 to discuss issues related to the ongoing federal government shutdown. The agency has fixed a bug in ACE that was preventing Section 301 drawback claims and is now able to begin processing, though the agency’s ability to resolve particular issues will be limited due to staffing issues caused by the ongoing shutdown, he said.

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