The Drug Enforcement Administration is delaying until March 21 the effective date of its recent final rule on electronic filing of permit applications, import and export declarations, and other required filings and reports for the importation and exportation of controlled substances, listed chemicals, and tableting and encapsulating machines, it said (here). The effective date of the final rule, which was originally set to take effect Jan. 30 (see 1612290015), is being delayed to comply with a recent presidential memorandum (see 1701230031). DEA’s ACE pilot will end on the effective date of the final rule on electronic filing, so the delay means the end of the pilot is also postponed.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
The updates to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule that took effect Jan. 1 (see 1701050035) and changed the HTS codes for multilayered wood flooring don't affect the applicability of antidumping orders on such products from China, the International Wood Products Association said in a Jan. 26 email. Antidumping orders are based on the written language of the scope and any HTS codes provided "aren't directly associated," the IWPA said. Even so, "a number of brokers are apparently running into problems because the ACE system hasn’t been updated to recognize the new entry codes," the trade group said. Asked about the issue, CBP told the IWPA "ACE will accept entry lines filed with HTS numbers that are not yet in the AD/CVD case reference file HTS tab," according to the IWPA. "Filing the entries as such WILL NOT create a reject. An informational message is all that will be sent back to the broker. It will allow entry as a type 03 with the case number added. If no case number is added then it will not allow a type 03 entry."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recently ended e-filing alpha pilot went relatively smoothly, but expansion of e-filing to more entries could drastically increase costs, pilot participants said during a meeting with Consumer Product Safety Commission officials on Jan. 26 (here). Required data was mostly easy to obtain, but the manual process most used during the ACE pilot for entering data in CPSC’s data registry and tying it to entries will become burdensome as filing expands. Customs brokers at the meeting said the pilot went well. However, the complex disclaimer process CPSC anticipates using means the commission will need to be careful about the scope of its PGA message set, participants said.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
CBP will delay the regulatory effective dates on final rules on Toxic Substances Control Act filing in ACE that eliminates blanket negative certifications (here) and import filing for vehicles and engines (here). The change follows instructions from the White House on Jan. 20 to delay regulatory effective dates for any changes not yet in effect (see 1701230031). "In light of this memo, CBP has considered whether entities affected by these final regulations will need additional time to implement new systems or internal procedural changes," it said in both notices. "To provide additional time for affected entities to become familiar with the increased flexibilities and new processes of the final regulations, CBP believes that extending the effective date until March 21, 2017 is appropriate and will furnish the affected entities with sufficient additional time." Both the TSCA rule (see 1612230030) rule and the vehicle import rule (see 1612230040) were scheduled to be effective Jan. 26.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Jan. 20 directed the heads of all executive branch departments and agencies to temporarily postpone until March 21 the effective dates of regulations published in the Federal Register that haven’t taken effect. The Trump administration will review “questions of fact, law, and policy” the regulations raise, Priebus said in the memo (here). The directive also instructs agencies to consider proposing for notice and comment rules to delay the effective date even longer “where appropriate and as permitted by applicable law,” with no further action needed for unsubstantial rulemakings and notification of the Office of Management and Budget for regulations that present substantial law or policy questions.
CBP under the Trump administration should start by addressing several open issues related to imports of goods below the de minimis threshold, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a letter (here). The NCBFAA wrote to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Steven Mnuchin, the nominee to head the Treasury Department, on Jan. 20 with a list of priorities. The trade group raised concerns about the lack of targeting on goods that are below the de minimis level, which increased to $800 from $200 last year (see 1608250029). Imports below the de minimis level, known as Section 321 releases, can receive faster CBP processing.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters: