Customs reauthorization legislation now being considered in Congress includes provisions with "little regard to the practical effectiveness of these measures or their impact on trade flows," the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America told the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees in a June 18 letter (here). "As conference discussions begin on H.R. 644, NCBFAA urges you to revisit these critical issues and address the need for balance between facilitation and enforcement so that this is a bill we can all stand behind," said the association. It's still unclear when conference negotiations to resolve differences between the House and Senate customs bills will begin (see 1506220012).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for June 1-5 in case they were missed.
The progress of customs legislation and the transition to the Automated Commercial Environment has drawback processes poised for some major updates, some over a decade in the making, said industry members during a June 2 panel discussion. The customs bills, now in various stages, includes a number of ideas supported by the Trade Support Network, including the elimination of rulings on drawback issues and an eight digit HTS substitution standard, said Bobby Waid, CEO of Charter Brokerage, who spoke on the panel at the American Association of Exporters and Importers conference. Recent work toward simplified process (see 1506010021) also includes potential updates to the program.
CBP recently posted its fiscal year 2014 Performance and Accountability Report (here). The 172-page document includes an update on whether CBP is meeting its objectives, financial statements, and the results of a recent audit from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General that found problems with CBP’s drawback program and single transaction bonds (see 1505060021). According to the report, CBP is not meeting its objective of 59% of cargo by value being imported into the U.S. by members of CBP trade partnership programs, with only 53.9% imported by participants. The report also says “CBP plans to complete the regulatory requirements” in FY 2015 to make Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) “mandatory for all cargo destined for the U.S.” According to the DHS regulatory agenda published in May, CBP will issue a proposed rule on ACAS in December (see 1505220006).
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices for May 29 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
The Treasury Department published its spring 2015 regulatory agenda for CBP (here), which lists a planned interim final rule that would establish the Automated Commercial Environment as the only means of electronic entry filing. There's also a new rulemaking listed that would relax documentation requirements for drawback claims.The agenda lists Treasury's CBP rulemakings that are pending at the proposed, interim final, final, and completed stages, as well as rulemakings that are long-term actions. The agenda lists the regulation title; past regulation(s), if any; the timeframe for the next regulatory action(s), if any; a brief description of the regulation; and a contact party name and telephone number. The Department of Homeland Security also issued its spring 2015 regulatory agenda for CBP (see 1505220006).
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for May 4-8 in case they were missed.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General continued to find a number of problems with CBP's drawback program and called the agency's oversight of the program a "material weakness" in a new audit report (here). While the DHS OIG has called attention to the problems for several years in the annual reports, it added some new recommendations for the fiscal year 2014 report. The OIG noted that while the problematic conditions "have existed for several years," CBP's "planned remediation" depends on funding for information technology systems. There were other problematic areas, including single-transaction bond and information technology policies, though no other issues were considered to rise to the level of a "material weakness."
International Trade Today is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 20-24 in case they were missed.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved the four major trade bills up for consideration at its April 23 markup, following a full day of debate on the legislation. The committee ultimately sent to the House floor Trade Promotion Authority, Trade Adjustment Assistance, a preference package and a Customs Reauthorization bill. Committee lawmakers approved the same TPA, TAA and preference package bills the Senate Finance Committee endorsed the day before (see 1504230001). TPA passed in a partisan vote, with two Democrats joining Republicans in support. The other three bills passed by voice vote, a committee spokesman said.