The Bureau of Industry and Security and State Department are seeking public comments (here) on potential impacts of changing certain controls implemented through an Oct. 12 final rule that transferred certain fire control, laser, imaging and guidance equipment from U.S. Munitions List (USML) Category XII to the Commerce Control List (CCL) (see 1610110022) on Dec. 31.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2016 in case they were missed.
The Commerce Department issued the preliminary results of an expedited review of countervailing duties on supercalendered paper from Canada (C-122-854) (here). The review covers two companies not individually investigated in Commerce’s recently completed CV duty investigation.
The North American Single Window should rely on common, standardized data elements -- and as few of them as possible -- to achieve “effective risk management,” said the Customs Commercial Operations Advisory Committee in recommendations adopted at a Nov. 17 meeting in Washington. CBP should continue “detailed work” with its counterparts in Canada and Mexico to harmonize all data elements being required by all countries for the import and export manifests according to WCO standards, and should work with Canada and Mexico to allow a single filing to satisfy the requirements of multiple countries and government agencies in certain circumstances, the COAC said in its recommendations.
The Treasury Department published its fall 2016 regulatory agenda for CBP (here), which mentions new rulemakings that implement part of the customs reauthorization. The agenda includes first mentions of an increase to the de minimis value (here) and antidumping and countervailing duty evasion investigation procedures (here). While interim final rules on both were issued earlier this year, CBP sought public comments on each, so further changes may be included when the regulations are finalized. CBP is aiming to finish the AD/CV duty evasion rulemaking (see 1608190014) by March, and the de minimis rulemaking (see 1608250029) by April, it said.
MIAMI -- Efforts toward a North American Single Window should not change the role of customs brokers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, respectively, said Geoff Powell, president of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. The association is not looking for a “European Union model” wherein brokers would be able to conduct customs business throughout the continent, Powell said, speaking at the Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Conference of the Americas on Nov. 15. Instead, it’s working with CBP, Canadian and Mexican customs, and broker groups in Mexico and Canada on facilitating the sharing of data, including export and import manifest, to “make it a little bit easier in getting the data” and to avoid duplicating information, he said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Oct. 17-21 in case they were missed.
ORLANDO -- CBP is working to allow Automated Broker Interface filers to directly file for Section 321 release from manifest, said Jim Swanson, director of cargo security and controls in CBP’s Office of Field Operations, during the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones annual conference on Oct. 17. But despite some calls from the trade community to allow Section 321 releases directly to consumers, CBP doesn’t have authority to deviate from normal release procedures, Swanson said. The agency is working with various associations, including express carriers, airlines, and customs brokers and forwarders, to respond to the growing amount of low-volume shipments across the U.S., Swanson said. The recent increase of the U.S. de minimis level from $200 to $800 has multiplied that type of shipment brought in by airlines at small airports across the country he said. Customs reauthorization legislation enacted earlier this year set the new de minimis level. The effects of the change are confounding CBP, which expected that any post-Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act influx in de minimis-related imports would mainly arrive via express couriers, Swanson said.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Sept. 26-30 in case they were missed.
CBP's proposal to eliminate "blanket certification" and require information for all chemical imports about whether Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations apply seems to contradict ongoing efforts to streamline trade processing, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said (here). "We urge CBP to include an exemption from the negative certification for chemicals that are clearly identified as a pesticide or other chemical not subject to TSCA," the NCBFAA said in comments to CBP in response to the agency's proposal involving the use of ACE for goods subject to TSCA regulations (see 1608260032). "In our view, requiring a negative certification for these non-TSCA products is an overreach that is incompatible" with the 2014 Executive Order on streamlining trade processing, the group said.