Recent trade-related bills introduced in Congress include:
CBP released a draft agenda for the recently announced Oct. 24-25 Trade Symposium (see 13091711). House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica for the World Customs Organization will give the keynote addresses. Session topics will include the Centers of Excellence and Expertise and the coming pilot program combining trusted trader programs.
The nominee for CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske and his wife plan to divest a number of stock holdings in companies that could be affected by decisions he makes as the head of the agency, recently filed disclosure forms show. Kerlikowske will shed the holdings within 90 days of his potential confirmation as CBP commissioner, according to his filing with the Department of Homeland Security-designated agency ethics official. The divestitures, which include several companies heavily involved in international trade, are meant to "avoid actual or apparent conflict or interest" if confirmed as CBP commissioner, the filing said.
John Thomure joins Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman's New York office from the Michael Best law firm in Milwaukee, Wisc., Cowan said. Thomure will work in Cowan's Customs, International Cargo and Regulatory Compliance group, as well as the Litigation and Intellectual Property groups.
CBP posted a Sept. 16 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
Customs Rulings Online Search System (CROSS) was updated Sept. 16. The corresponding downloadable rulings are now available.
CBP released a list of the nine customs brokerages chosen to test CBP's broker importer security assessment (ISA) pre-certification program (see 13041623). The brokerages are:
The Port of Boston stopped printing paper copies of the bulletin notices of liquidation (CBP Form 4333), said CBP's Boston field office in a public information notice. Effective Sept. 9, the bulletin notices are available in an electronic format on a public access computer in the port's file room, the notice said. The CBP Seattle field office recently made a similar change (see 13060316) and CBP in general is in the process of making more bulletins electronically available (see 13050924).
CBP released its Sept. 18 Customs Bulletin (Vol. 47, No. 39). While the Bulletin does not contain any ruling articles, it does include recent general notices and Court of International Trade decisions.
A planned pilot combining CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) programs will allow the agency to gain a more flexible and company-specific understanding of individual trade compliance and supply chain security, said Valarie Neuhart, Director of Industry and Account Management at CBP. Neuhart and others spoke about the new program during a Webinar hosted by Integration Point Sept. 17.