CBP plans to issue procedures for ACE outages before the end of the month, the agency said in an Outages Working Group report released ahead of the Feb. 28 Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting in Miami. CBP will "publish the public downtime procedures document by the end of February," it said. Following some COAC recommendations in November, "CBP’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT) has assigned a development team to begin working on the recommended enhancements," it said. "Enhancements to the Dashboard will be implemented throughout calendar year 2018."
Maersk and IBM will form a joint venture meant to "provide more efficient and secure methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology," the companies said in a Jan. 16 blog post. The new company will work to develop a new platform to "provide end-to-end supply chain visibility that enables all actors involved in a global shipping transaction to securely and seamlessly exchange shipment events in real time," it said. The platform will also "digitize and automate paperwork filings for the import and export of goods by enabling end users to securely submit, stamp and approve documents across national and organizational boundaries."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for 2017 in case they were missed.
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 6-9 in case they were missed.
UPS has joined the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance, a forum for development of blockchain technology standards and education for the freight industry, and is exploring applications in its customs brokerage business, UPS announced Nov. 7. The technology would help improve transaction accuracy and by replacing paper-heavy and manual processes, which should help all parties involved in the transactions, UPS said. “Blockchain, a digital database using blocks that are linked and secured by cryptography, can be used to keep record of any information or assets,” the company said. “This includes physical assets, like transportation containers, or virtual assets, like digital currencies.”
CBP plans to launch a “proof of concept and/or pilot” in fiscal year 2018 on the potential applications of blockchain technology for trade, according to a document from the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee’s Emerging Technologies Working Group. The agency is currently working with the trade community to develop “use cases” wherein blockchain could improve trade processes, and held an invitation-only blockchain workshop in October to discuss ideas. “There appears to be opportunity among the trade community to either track/validate goods in their supply chain to support due diligence or potentially to support verifiable claims to CBP for audit/compliance purposes,” the paper says.
CBP Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan announced formation of the new Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee Emerging Technologies Working Group during the Aug. 23 COAC meeting in San Diego. "Initially, one of the things that this working group will tackle is the emerging field of blockchain and how that applies to global supply chains," he said. It's a "technology that we think could be very promising for harmonizing key aspects of the global supply chain as we move goods across multiple borders."
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- The increase in the de minimis value threshold last year seems already to be driving a shift in international trade patterns, said Brenda Smith, executive assistant commissioner for the CBP Office of Trade, during a May 25 interview at the West Coast Trade Symposium. "What we're seeing is significant changes in supply chains," reflected in the growing number of Section 321 entries, she said. For example, one port in Alabama with few CBP officers "is suddenly getting this flood because it's close to a distribution center," she said. Likely, that's a result of container-loads full of under $800 small packages that qualify for de minimis, she said.
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Enhanced trade enforcement provisions, the ability to collaborate on trade facilitation issues and “modernized rules of origin” are among issues CBP would like to see included in NAFTA negotiations, Acting CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during the West Coast Trade Symposium on May 24. “There's a lot of ways CBP can contribute to that dialogue,” he said. “The way this is unfolding with the importance and access being placed on CBP, I think we'll have that opportunity.” McAleenan also said the timing for the final deployment of ACE should be "announced pretty soon."
A lack of clarity on "a unique identifier for supply chain operators crossing borders" is limiting the potential for trusted trader programs internationally, CBP Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during a May 17 speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Supply Chain Summit. "We've been working so hard to recognize Authorized Economic Operator programs globally with partners, we've entered into Mutual Recognition Agreements, we're intending to expand them," but "they are not having dramatic operational value for our trade partnership," he said. McAleenan has been pushing to standardize unique identifiers (see 1612020024).