The Court of International Trade has ruled against Toyota1 and denied its request to resubmit claims for NAFTA duty drawback on entries of unused automobile service parts imported into the U.S. and later exported to Canada. The CIT found Toyota's drawback methods failed to calculate the average inventory turnover period on a part-specific basis and would have resulted in Toyota receiving drawback for parts imported more than three years before being exported. The CIT also ruled that Customs was not responsible for Toyota's untimely drawback claims and amendments.
At the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America’s Government Affairs Conference on September 19, 2011, representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and NCBFAA’s Customs Committee discussed the “Role of the Broker,” including the possibility of requiring continuing education for all licensed customs brokers and an experience requirement for permit holders. A larger role for brokers in trusted trade programs is also being contemplated, etc.
In the past, when the GSP program expired for non-AGOA countries and had been retroactively renewed, CBP had stated that ABI filers who continued to use the GSP SPIs (A or A+) during the expiration period would not need to take any further action to request a refund (as filing with a GSP SPI during the expired period constituted a valid claim for a refund).
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a notice announcing that the next customs broker license exam will be held on Monday, October 3, 2011.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for July 25-29, 2011 in case they were missed last week.
In June 2011, CBP, the Trade Leadership Council and the Trade Support Network discussed key "action items" for developing ACE, including the plan for turning off ACS, the upcoming Document Imaging System pilot, the visibility problem with Post Summary Corrections for prior filers, and using ACE for export licensing and reports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking additional comments on extending the use of three existing drawback forms, CBP Forms 7551, 7552, and 7553 as approved government information collections. CBP plans to request Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and approval of these forms without change.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General has issued a follow-up letter on the recent "Independent Auditors' Report" issued by KPMG LLP on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's fiscal year 2010 internal controls for the financial reporting of its Information Technology activity. The letter details the "significant deficiency" that was found for CBP's IT and financial system controls in the following areas: access control, security management, segregation of duties, and financial system functionality, and lists recommendations for improvement.
The Court of International Trade has ruled1 that U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not err in denying Shell's 1997 protests seeking drawback of Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) and Environmental Tax (ET) payments associated with certain petroleum products that it imported and substitute petroleum derivatives it exported in 1993 and 1994. The CIT agreed with CBP that Shell is not entitled to drawback as its protests were untimely.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 20 - 24, 2011 in case they were missed last week.