Houston's sea ports and airports are asking shippers that use the region to be patient as it recovers from Hurricane Beryl, according to a July 12 email sent by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America to its members.
Shipping, trucking and freight forwarding associations urged the Federal Maritime Commission to reject a request from a group of major ocean carriers seeking to push back the effective date of the FMC’s new demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2402230049), saying in public comments to the commission that the delay would cause widespread confusion within the shipping industry. But two of those groups said the FMC should at least consider giving the industry more time to adapt to the rules before punishing violators with fines.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a new rule this week that it said will “explicitly require” banks and other financial institutions to have “effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed“ compliance programs to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. The agency’s proposal also would require them to put in place a risk assessment process and meet other “minimum” rules for their compliance programs.
The Federal Maritime Commission recently sent the shipping and freight forwarding industry guidance about the FMC’s February final rule that set new demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2402230049). The six-page document, provided to us by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, includes 19 frequently asked questions and answers related to the rule, covering questions including timelines for disputing detention and demurrage invoices issued by ocean carriers and terminal operators, extended dwell fees assessed by U.S. ports and the definition of “billed party.”
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The trade is watching whether more than 9,000 Canada Border Service Agency workers will go on strike on Wednesday should the impasse on labor contract negotiations continue.
A June 3 blog post by Defense Trade Solutions, a consultant used by the U.S. defense industry, outlines the licensing and recordkeeping requirements, along with a set of best practices, for brokers involved in exporting defense articles and services.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two companies in the Central African Republic linked to the Wagner Group, the designated private Russian military organization. The sanctions target Mining Industries SARLU and Logistique Economique Etrangere SARLU for “enabling Wagner Group security operations and Wagner Group-linked illicit mining endeavors” in the CAR, OFAC said.
A recent change to Canada’s help desk services hasn’t caused any freight delays at the country’s border, Canada's customs agency said, disputing some points made by Canadian customs brokers in a letter to the government earlier this month.
A disruption involving help desk services for customs business numbers used by Canadian importers and customs brokers is leading to delays and increased storage fees, the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers said in a letter to the government this week. The group urged the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency to fix the issue, saying the disruption is causing days worth of delays for routine procedures that previously took minutes.