CBP Mitigation Guidelines Need Review, Update, Says COAC
CBP should take a new look at its penalty mitigation guidelines, the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) recommended during its April 27 meeting. A more "uniform" application of mitigation policies, which were last updated in 2004, is needed "in light of technology advances, trusted trader programs, and inter-agency enforcement partnerships," the COAC Trade Enforcement and Revenue Collection subcommittee said. "Particularly in cases of less egregious violations, CBP should enforce and mitigate on more of an account-based, as opposed to transactional approach," it said.
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The mitigation guideline recommendation also includes a past COAC recommendation to review the Food and Drug Administration Redelivery Mitigation Guidelines, it said. The COAC asked that an enforcement and revenue subcommittee working group be created to help CBP to review the guidelines within the next three to six months. CBP should also provide specific deadlines for issuing liquidated damage claims so as to alert companies of such violations, said enforcement and revenue subcommittee chair Lisa Gelsomino, CEO of Avalon Risk Management. "The more timely that can be given to the trade, the more the trade can better comply and respond," she said. A full list of COAC's April 27 recommendations is (here).
Some collaboration is needed before CBP makes its first report to congress detailing antidumping and countervailing duty evasion investigations, as required by the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, said COAC. CBP should consult with COAC "to further assess its legal ability to provide a public summary" of antidumping/countervailing duty investigations to "balance the need for trade enforcement transparency and support informed compliance for the trade," the subcommittee recommended. CBP plans to work closely with COAC on the AD/CVD and forced labor components of the new law on forming policy and communicating it out, said Troy Riley, CBP executive director, commercial targeting and enforcement.
Messaging through CSMS continues to be an important communication tool and CBP should make use of it more frequently to "advise or inform the trade of emerging compliance risks that will initiate enforcement activity as well as changes in port operation", the COAC said. CBP should add notifications from individual ports and the Centers of Excellence and Expertise to the messages sent out through CSMS, the group recommended. Such messaging should also be used to provide information on AD/CVD enforcement statistics and new AD/CVD orders. The agency should also explain the difference between "terminated" and "inactive" AD/CVD cases, an issue that's caused problems for customs brokers in ACE, said Gelsomino.
The enforcement and revenue subcommittee also advised that CBP provide outreach on how to use e-Allegations, through which duty evasion and other allegations can be reported to CBP anonymously. The agency should outline how the system "facilitates and enhances CBP processes in identifying and enforcing IPR related issues, concerns, and allegations," it said. More information from the recommendations compiled by the subcommittee is (here).