The U.S. Council for International Business urged Congress to move forward with CBP reauthorization legislation last month, submitting comments to the House Ways and Means committee on the two CBP bills introduced in 2012. USCIB commended various parts of the bills, HR-6642 and HR-6656, including automated commercial environment funding, the appointment of a trade advocate and codification of the Centers for Excellence and Expertise. The group also recommended changes to the bills, such as altering the importer requirements so they're not prohibitive for small and medium enterprises. The group also recommended eliminating what it called the bill’s “overly onerous” provision requiring brokers to collect information on the identity of importers. The group’s complete comments are here. Jerry Cook, chair of USCIB's Customs and Trade Facilitation Committee, said in a press release the group was hopeful the minute differences between last year's bills can be worked out soon. “We cannot afford to let the opportunity to achieve a long awaited customs reauthorization bill pass by.”
A new CBP reauthorization bill is expected to materialize in the coming months, say industry stakeholders, who are pushing for some changes to the CBP bills introduced last year but say they support those bills overall. The House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees are accepting comments on the two bills introduced in December: HR-6642 and HR-6656, which, other than language on antidumping and countervailing, are nearly identical. Observers pointed to new non-resident importer requirements and the severity of penalties allowed for providing inaccurate importer security filing data as parts of the bills they would like changed.
CBP's New York Field Office will have its quarterly broker meeting March 6, it said in an informational pipeline. Agenda topics will include ACE issue and updates, review of current post entry amendment and protest procedures and trade fair entries, it said. The meeting will start at 10 a.m. at 1100 Raymond Boulevard, Newark N.J.
CBP posted three Great Idea Forms (GIF) on a request from the Trade Support Network meant to allow for interaction with the Participating Government Agency (PGA) Message Set through the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Feb. 25-March 1 in case they were missed.
CBP released several documents outlining the agency's plans and expectations for operations following the budget cuts that took effect March 1. The agency will allow for operations as usual for Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS), the agency said. CBP has said it will continue to keep security, including radiation portal monitors, as a top priority during the cuts, but that trade processing could see major delays as a result of CBP furlough and cuts to overtime expenses. A list of CBP's trade priorities following sequestration is (here).
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP posted the monthly Trade Support Network (TSN) committee reports for October through December. Among other things, the TSN is working on a "White Paper" on Automated Commercial Environment entry recordkeeping, the December report said. The December 2012 report is (here). The October/November report is (here).
CBP posted updated documents providing overviews of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and its benefits for various industries. The updates are minimal.
The Import Administration is working closely with partner agencies including CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to fight antidumping and countervailing duty evasion and fraud schemes, said Assistant Secretary Paul Piquado at Georgetown Law School’s 2013 International Trade Update Conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 28. A key tool in this cooperation is the Automated Commercial Environment, he said. The collaboration has resulted in several successful criminal prosecutions related to duty evasion and fraud, he said. (Import Administration is the unit within the International Trade Administration tasked with administering AD/CV duties.)