The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​​

The U.S. and Argentina will ramp up cooperation on customs modernization initiatives and trade facilitation policies affecting the express industry, according to an Oct. 27 joint statement (here) between the nations’ governments after officials met for the bilateral Commercial Dialogue in Washington. “We have identified the express delivery service industry as a critical enabler for the success of [small and medium-sized businesses] in the global economy, and in particular those innovative firms providing time-sensitive, high value products and services,” the joint statement said. The U.S. plans to host an interagency Argentine delegation in “early 2017” at an express delivery hub, it said. The U.S. and Argentina also signaled intentions to hold more bilateral discussions between technical experts on best practices for discussing positions, experiences, and “matters of mutual interest” in the trade remedy arena, after experts met in September, according to the statement. President Barack Obama announced the start of the Commercial Dialogue during his visit to Buenos Aires in March.

The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:​​

There remains insufficient rationale behind a Department of Energy proposal to require filing of “certifications of admissibility” in ACE at time of entry for products subject to energy efficiency standards, a group of trade associations told the DOE in June 10 comments (here). The notice "seems to indicate that DOE is planning to continue down the same misguided path to further regulate importers who are already compliant with DOE’s regulations for no definable purpose and with no achievable outcome," the groups said. The DOE reopened the comment period on the proposal after industry members voiced a wide range of concerns about the plan (see 1605130022).

The Energy Department’s proposal to require the filing of additional data elements in ACE for products subject to energy efficiency standards is unnecessarily burdensome, and runs contrary to the federal government’s stated goal of simplifying the import process, said manufacturer and importer associations in comments submitted to the agency (here). The proposed rule results from a misunderstanding of the roles various parties play in the import process, seeking data from importers that is best and most easily – and already – submitted by manufacturers, they said.

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.

The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:

Lawmakers finished up work on a conference version of long-debated customs reauthorization legislation that combines the underlying concepts of the Senate- and House-proposed customs bills, said Conference Committee members on Dec. 9 (here). Notably, the compromise legislation (here) would impose the ENFORCE Act's firm deadlines on CBP to investigate claims of antidumping and countervailing duty evasion, and would require new regulations on customs broker identification of importers, under threat of penalty. A new provision in the legislation -- absent from either chamber's original bill -- would hold CBP to stricter deadlines for reliquidating entries. The bill could go to a vote on the House floor as early as Dec. 11, a congressional staffer said. The lawmakers also released a summary (here) and joint explanatory statement (here) on the bill's provisions.

CBP extended the comment period to Dec. 14 on an existing information collection for cargo container and road vehicle certification for transport under Customs seal. CBP proposes (here) to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or information collected.