CBP compiled its mitigation guidelines for penalties related to advance electronic cargo information requirements in a new document. The new document largely follows information released by the agency in 2005 and amended in 2011. "The failure of an arriving carrier (vessel, air or rail) to be automated in the Automated Manifest System ('AMS') at all ports of entry in the United States, or the failure of an arriving carrier (vessel, air or rail) or of any authorized electronic transmitter to provide the required advance electronic cargo information in the time period and manner prescribed by [CBP] regulations may result in the delay or denial of a vessel carrier’s preliminary entry-permit/special license to unlade, an air carrier’s landing rights, a train carrier’s permission to proceed, and/or the assessment of any other applicable statutory penalty," CBP said.
Congress should pass legislation for countering bad unmanned aerial vehicles, DOJ and Homeland Security Department officials said Thursday on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel. Public safety agencies' ability to fight criminal or terrorist use of drones is “hamstrung” by outdated laws and legal uncertainty, said Brendan Groves, counsel to the deputy attorney general. To integrate drones safely into airspace, government must assure the public it has tools to deal with malicious or errant uses, said DHS Program Executive Officer-Unmanned Aerial Systems Anh Duong. Hogan Lovells attorney Lisa Ellman, co-chair of Global Unmanned Aircraft Systems, supported legislation but said “the devil is in the details.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer needs to tell his Mexican counterpart that a bill introduced in the Mexican Senate, if passed into law, "will have serious ramifications and negatively impact the effort to renegotiate NAFTA," 94 House Democrats said. The group sent a letter April 18 saying that the bill is implementing legislation for constitutional amendments that would change how labor law is enforced in Mexico. Lighthizer is meeting with Mexico's economy minister and Canada's foreign minister on April 19 and 20, and Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said April 18 that four more chapters of NAFTA should be closed shortly -- on energy, telecom, the environment and barriers to commerce. He said he expects NAFTA to be in the landing zone in two to three weeks, according to a Mexican media report. When Lighthizer testified in front of the House Ways and Means Committee last month, he agreed with Democrats that Mexico has not lived up to its labor standards under NAFTA, and that a secret ballot election for union representation is important (see 1803210044).
The FCC played down the policy influence of Elizabeth Pierce -- the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee ex-chair arrested by the FBI last week for alleged wire fraud involving an Alaska fiber project (see 1804130055) -- after a government watchdog urged the commission to review the Quintillion ex-CEO’s BDAC work from April 2017 to September. Pierce’s alleged crimes accentuate local concerns about corporate control of the BDAC, said former member San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who in January resigned in protest of imbalance between corporate and local members. One BDAC member defended the group.
The FCC played down the policy influence of Elizabeth Pierce -- the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee ex-chair arrested by the FBI last week for alleged wire fraud involving an Alaska fiber project (see 1804130055) -- after a government watchdog urged the commission to review the Quintillion ex-CEO’s BDAC work from April 2017 to September. Pierce’s alleged crimes accentuate local concerns about corporate control of the BDAC, said former member San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who in January resigned in protest of imbalance between corporate and local members. One BDAC member defended the group.
The House Digital Commerce Subcommittee postponed a planned Thursday hearing on robocalls (see 1804120062), citing House leaders' decision to adjourn for the week after Wednesday votes. The Senate Commerce Committee plans its own robocalls hearing Wednesday, which committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters would focus on seeing “where things are, where the lay of the land is” with FCC and FTC efforts to combat the practice. He cited FCC recent work on at least one reassigned numbers database to help businesses avoid calling reassigned numbers (see 1803220028 and 1803230056).
The House Digital Commerce Subcommittee postponed a planned Thursday hearing on robocalls (see 1804120062), citing House leaders' decision to adjourn for the week after Wednesday votes. The Senate Commerce Committee plans its own robocalls hearing Wednesday, which committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters would focus on seeing “where things are, where the lay of the land is” with FCC and FTC efforts to combat the practice. He cited FCC recent work on at least one reassigned numbers database to help businesses avoid calling reassigned numbers (see 1803220028 and 1803230056).
Beyond agreeing Communications Act Title II net neutrality rules are bad, speakers at a Federalist Society event clashed over of paid prioritization and whether it should be permissible even without Title II oversight. Also Tuesday, a House subcommittee held a paid prioritization hearing (see 1804170037) while states also considered net neutrality bills (see 1804170057).
Beyond agreeing Communications Act Title II net neutrality rules are bad, speakers at a Federalist Society event clashed over of paid prioritization and whether it should be permissible even without Title II oversight. Also Tuesday, a House subcommittee held a paid prioritization hearing (see 1804170037) while states also considered net neutrality bills (see 1804170057).
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan, testifying in front of the Appropriations subcommittee for Homeland Security, said there's ongoing demand for additional and enhanced ACE capabilities. CBP could use an additional $5.5 million next fiscal year to develop and implement post-core functionality, he said. McAleenan, who testified April 12, said a high volume of low-value shipments, particularly through e-commerce "presents enforcement and trade facilitation challenges." McAleenan spent more time talking about immigration enforcement duties of the agency, but also said they are requesting $44.2 million for non-intrusive inspection technology, which is used both for radiation monitoring and to x-ray express packages and mail. He noted that in the last fiscal year, CBP made 118 seizures of fentanyl sent by express consignment carriers and 227 seizures in international mail -- together, the seizures interdicted almost 350 pounds of the powerful synthetic opioid. CBP also is requesting $14.8 million to modernize land ports of entry, as well as funding for 26 positions to implement the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which he called "one of the most impactful pieces of trade legislation for CBP in more than a generation."