Licensed Customs Broker

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Aug 31 - Sept. 6:

CBP may be moving toward pushing back the Nov. 1 mandatory use date of the Automated Commercial Environment for electronic entry summary and cargo release filing, said Jon Kent, a lobbyist for the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association. Kent spoke during an NCBFAA webinar on July 28. The NCBFAA and others groups told CBP in recent months that the planned ACE timeline may not allow for sufficient testing by industry and the government and that more time is needed (see 1507170020).

State and Commerce Department efforts to harmonize destination control statements would simplify the export process, but the State requirement for those statements on transportation documents burdens industry and accomplishes nothing, said the National Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association of America in recent comments on the proposed rules. State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls should require control statements only on commercial invoices and contractual documentation, said NCBFAA President Geoffrey Powell in the comments. DDTC and Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security posted the NCBFAA and other industry comments (here) submitted in response to slightly different proposals from late May (see 1505210063).

The House is set to vote in the coming days to put in motion a conference on Customs Reauthorization legislation in order to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, said lobbyists in recent interviews. The verdict is still out on a range of policies that will directly impact compliance professionals and the broader trade community. Legislative conference is a notoriously secretive process, but lawmakers are expected to hammer out compromises on some major issues, including CBP evasion prevention and enforcement and Miscellaneous Tariff Bill process reforms.

The October customs broker’s license examination is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 7,said CBP in a notice (here). While usually scheduled for the first Monday in October, the first Monday coincides with the observance of the religious holiday of Shemini Atzeret, said CBP. The exam typically consists of 80 multiple-choice questions, with a score of 75 percent required to pass.

Customs reauthorization legislation now being considered in Congress includes provisions with "little regard to the practical effectiveness of these measures or their impact on trade flows," the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America told the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees in a June 18 letter (here). "As conference discussions begin on H.R. 644, NCBFAA urges you to revisit these critical issues and address the need for balance between facilitation and enforcement so that this is a bill we can all stand behind," said the association. It's still unclear when conference negotiations to resolve differences between the House and Senate customs bills will begin (see 1506220012).

Canada continues to work in conjunction with the U.S. to broker critical trade pacts, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and World Trade Organization agreements, but the U.S. is still troubled by weak Canadian intellectual property and trade-inhibiting supply management regulations, said U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke at the 2015 Canadian Trade Policy Review in Geneva (here). The TPR is the first for Canada since 2011.

ORLANDO, FLA. -- CBP included a revision to the definition of "customs business" and a proposed broker employment ratio within a set of changes to the agency's regulations in 19 CFR Part 111, said Troy Riley, executive director of CBP's Office of Commercial Targeting and Enforcement. Riley, who spoke at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 22, discussed a number of the proposed regulatory updates, though he was unable to go into great detail because the changes are now undergoing a further review at the agency. The Part 111 update does not include continuing education requirements, he said.

ORLANDO, FLA. -- There's still some uncertainty as to whether CBP will ultimately require continuing education hours as part of a customs broker license, said Brenda Smith, assistant commissioner in CBP's Office of International Trade at the National Customs Broker & Forwarders Association of America conference on April 20. The agency is now in the process of reviewing whether it has the authority to make such a requirement and CBP will also need to look at all the pieces involved, she said. CBP has been considering for several years a proposal to require customs brokers to have 40 hours of continuing education for every three years (see 13041104).

A Department of Homeland Security funding lapse will not stop "front line cargo operations" and import and entry specialists will continue to review entries during that time, said CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. Kerlikowske discussed the looming shutdown, a result of a fight over DHS funding in congress, with members of the trade industry and reporters in a Feb. 26 call. Despite going without a paycheck during the shutdown, CBP personnel will also be available to answer questions for importers and brokers, he said. DHS funding will stop Feb. 28 unless congress allocates more funding before then.