The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America finalized its election of new officers and board members to govern the association for 2024-2026, the association said.
When a declaration is made on the Automated Commercial Environment portal, the system will automatically check for duplicate Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers, case numbers and manufacturer IDs before submission is permitted, CBP said. This was part of a series of updates CBP made to the ACE Portal that was highlighted in an April 25 CSMS message.
International Trade Today is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case they were missed. All articles can be found by searching on the titles or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
While CBP is working to select accreditors, it's also important that companies start looking at their own internal training and ensuring that it has the context and the time requirements you are going to need, said Brian Barber, vice president for U.S. brokerage operations and government affairs at Willson International (see 2404170072).
FORT LAUDERDALE -- While CBP's Entry Type 86 pilot has allowed customs brokers to handle low value shipments, the agency also is seeing filers "abusing" the test by filing unverified data and pricing out other brokers who can't compete with the low fees the bad actors are charging, said CBP acting Commissioner Troy Miller in remarks at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference April 17.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- CBP in the final review and selection stage" for accreditors of continuing education for customs brokers, and will announce "in the coming months" the start date for broker continuing education requirements, the number of hours required for this triennial reporting period and the names of the approved accreditors, said Shari McCann, director of CBP's Cargo Security and Controls Division, on April 17.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- CBP is expanding its partnership with the Homeland Security Investigations Cyber Crimes Unit, and is including large brokers and software developers in the effort to use "these HSI resources to help identify cyber attacks before they happen, said Shari McCann, director of commercial operations for CBP's Office of Trade.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Consumer Product Safety Commission has extended its e-filing “beta” pilot another two months, allowing filing to continue for 37 importers and 21 customs brokers participating in the pilot until mid-June, said Sabrina Keller, deputy director of CPSC’s Office of Import Surveillance, on April 16. The pilot had been scheduled to end April 16 without the extension, she said, speaking at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America annual conference. Six months in, the commission has “a lot of good data and a lot of good information,” she said.
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will “hopefully” publish its notice launching Phase VII of Lacey Act Enforcement “in the next two-ish months,” said Erin Otto, of the agency’s Lacey Act program, on April 16. That will trigger a six-month countdown until full enforcement of Phase VII, which covers all non-composite plant products that Lacey Act requirements haven't previously covered.