The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the challenges the Department of Homeland Security has faced in managing testing and evaluation of major acquisitions, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Advanced Spectroscopic Portal (ASP) program.
During the August 18, 2011, COAC meeting CBP discussed its recent work with Mexico on single entry and data harmonization, its plans for a Northern Border pre-inspection pilot, and C-TPAT/AEO mutual recognition. In addition, the COAC Global Supply Chain Security Land Border Subcommittee discussed its plans and recommendations for increasing C-TPAT participation and harmonizing partnership programs.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a press release on CBP Commissioner Bersin's opening of the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee’s (COAC) second meeting held in Long Beach, CA on August 18, 2011. At the meeting, Commissioner Bersin emphasized that partnerships with other countries, other governmental agencies (OGAs), and the trade community are essential for further success in moving forward. Meeting participants also discussed the management by account pilot programs, the Center of Excellence and Expertise (CEE) and Account Executive, which will likely become part of the CEE on October 1. Other topics on the agenda included simplified entry and processing, the role of the broker revision project, and updates on the progress of work being done on the land border security initiatives, air cargo security, Automated Commercial Environment (ACE), etc.
Gov.cn reports that China's State Council has issued new guidelines to promote the development of and resolve long-term problems facing the country's logistics industry. Among other things, the article states that China will reduce tax burdens on logistics enterprises, accelerate reform in the logistics management system, reallocate logistics resources, promote the innovation and application of logistics technologies, and invest more in the sector.
Nintendo plans a trade event in Tokyo on Sept. 13, Nintendo of America said. But specifics about the event weren’t available. Separately, games that NOA said it plans to show playable versions of at the Penny Arcade Expo, Friday-Sunday at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, include Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Star Fox 64 3D, Pokedex 3D and Sega’s Shinobi and Sonic Generations for the 3DS, and Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land for the Wii.
Wireless services were disrupted in much of the Washington area after a 5.9-magnitude Virginia-based earthquake rocked the East Coast early Tuesday afternoon. The FCC was investigating network problems. The agency remained functional, though employees were given the option of taking administrative leave for the reminder of the day, a spokesman said. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. The U.S. Geological Survey warned of possible aftershocks.
Once an after-thought in CE sales, premium branded headphones have moved to the forefront in attracting a broad range of retailers and consumers, as distribution grows across bricks and mortar stores, online and in kiosks, industry officials said. And while the standard-bearers of high-end headphones, Harman International’s AKG, Bose, Sennheiser and others continue to be strong-sellers, new competitors such as Beats Electronics, Skullcandy, B&W and Sol Republic, are challenging for retail market share, industry officials said.
On August 18, 2011, a COAC1 meeting was held in Long Beach, CA where CBP and COAC members discussed plans to develop recommendations for broker reform by October, roll out full-blown Centers for Excellence and Expertise in October, pilot simplified entry and financial process in October, expand the air cargo advance screening pilot to additional types of carriers and countries, and add export processing to the Automated Commercial Environment.
A second cable operator may soon land an FCC waiver to encrypt all channels. RCN now wants to follow Cablevision’s lead and be able to turn on and off service remotely (CED Aug 16 p1), cutting down on signal theft and sparing the expense and carbon emissions of sending out technicians on truck rolls.
LightSquared’s revised proposal to open operations in the lower 10 MHz channel of its band, 1525-1535 MHz, is expected to have the biggest effect on a class of high-precision, highly accurate devices that use receivers that make use of LightSquared’s entire band. The number of these devices is relatively small, perhaps 400,000 nationwide, LightSquared officials tell us. Not surprisingly, agricultural and other interests heavily invested in these high-precision devices have been among the most active in protesting LightSquared’s proposed network in recent filings at the FCC.