CBP, Industry Working Group Makes Preliminary Plans for Entry Summary Improvements
The joint CBP and industry working group effort to improve entry summary decided on some initial steps during the group's first meeting July 15-17, according to a description of the first session posted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA). The group, known as the Simplified Summary Working Group, "was established to further improve the Entry Summary process and policies to improve usability and efficiency by modernizing the post- release processes to align with current business practices or the trade community," it said.
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The group identified a number of "decision points" that will "guide future efforts." The group plans to focus on these issues:
- Account Management: Align Simplified Summary with accounts management approach for Trusted Traders
- Decoupling: Decouple entry from summary (moving away from a one-to-one relationship between entry and summary)
- Importer Activity Summary Statement (IASS): Incorporate elements of IASS statute
- Line-Level Liquidation: Include line-level liquidation in the proposed alternative
- Monthly Summary: Formulate a monthly summary and permit corrections
- Participants: Select filers based on feasibility and financial risk tolerance in the pilot program
- Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF), Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF), and other User Fees: Develop recommendations for addressing user fees within a new monthly summary framework
The working group will continue to meet through October to develop a concept of operations for entry summary and revenue collection, it said. During the August session, it plans to "create use cases" to test proposed alternatives "based on actual scenarios," give an updated “straw man” detailing findings and insights gathered, and review the "updated findings focused on user feasibility, integration and implementation." The group will then in October provide details on plans for implementation and seek feedback from other stakeholders, it said.
Working group members were also tasked with work to complete before the August session. Among the tasks are a review of the Canadian Customs Self-Assessment Program, a map of the current Entry Summary processes, a map of an ideal Entry Summary process and an examination of current government accounting standards, it said. Members will also informally survey CBP and the trade community regarding the decision points and identify representatives from the broker community and others to invite to the next session.