CBP said it resolved a problem with about 2,500 carrier and importer accounts that account identifiers are rejected when transmitted in an EDI or portal transaction, said CBP in a CSMS message. Affected users also couldn't access their ACE Secure Data Portal account, said CBP.
CBP's Reimbursable Services program includes the use of CBP services at places not currently being served by the agency, it said in an update on the program (here). The statutory authority for the program "expressly contemplates the provision of such services at new facilities," said CBP. The requestor must comply with CBP specifications in order make use of such services, it said. CBP's Office of Field Operations will be in charge of determining the staffing level needed for services under such agreements, the agency said. CBP recently outlined its plans to implement the program, which would allow private groups to reimburse CBP for new or enhanced customs or immigration inspections (see 13051329).
CBP posted a number of presentations and documents that the agency showed at a recent Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) conference. The conference, held May 21 in Baltimore, included several technical overviews of ACE progress and future plans. The agency is planning to require ACE filing for manifest and cargo release by the end of 2015 and will require filing everything through ACE by the end of 2016, it said in a presentation on the ACE Plan Forward (here).
Airbus Americas hired Christopher Johnson as customs manager for the company's manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala., it said in a press release. Johnson previously worked at John S. James Co., the release said. Johnson is only the second hire for the new Airbus assembly line.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP is working with other government agencies "to evaluate the possibility of expanding the [Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism] program to include U.S. exporters," the agency said in a fact sheet on the C-TPAT program. CBP is also working to partner with other agencies to "exchange common program information, metrics, and operational lessons in an effort to identify opportunities to increase efficiency and reduce redundancy within their respective trusted trader programs to ultimately streamline the process," it said.
CBP is in need of a Senate-confirmed commissioner, said CBP Deputy Commissioner Thomas Winkowski during the May 22 Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) meeting in Washington. Winkowski said he looks forward to the day a permanent commissioner is chosen, but he wouldn't be interested in taking that role. "If nominated I will not accept and if drafted, I will not run," he said, paraphrasing a famous quote from Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. "It's been a long time and hopefully some inroads are being made here and we'll get this show on road," he said.
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) should be allowed to review results of a trusted trader pilot combining the Importer Self Assessment (ISA) and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) before the agency issues the final trader program requirements, the group said in a recommendation to CBP at the May 22 COAC meeting. The COAC trusted trader subcommittee said the group should get a chance to provide input on the program "in its entirety" before COAC decides whether to endorse the program, the recommendation said. There's some uncertainty within the trusted trader subcommittee of the COAC over plans to combine, said COAC member George Weise from Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services during the meeting.
The Federal Maritime Commission said the following have filed applications for a license as a Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVO) and/or Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF)-Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984. The FMC also gave notice of the filing of applications to amend an existing OTI license or the qualifying individual for a license. Interested persons may contact the Office of Transportation Intermediaries, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573, at 202-523-5843 or at OTI@fmc.gov.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed May 21 that more work needs to be done to secure the supply chain for communications network equipment, they said during House cybersecurity hearings. The House Communications Subcommittee said it launched a supply chain security working group this week, co-chaired by Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich. Last year Rogers urged the U.S. government and American companies to avoid doing business with Huawei and ZTE because of what he said are long-term security risks associated with the companies. Also participating in the working group are: Reps. Bob Latta, R-Ohio; Mike Doyle, D-Pa.; Lee Terry, R-Neb.; Ben Lujan, D-N.M.; Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; and Jim Matheson, D-Utah.