The NCBFAA Transportation Committee wants to remind our members that the Canadian rail strike threat remains in place until the contracts between Canada’s two Class 1 railroads and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) are reached.

Thirty-five associations are calling for DHS, CBP and Congress to finalize the selection of those who will be serving in this current term of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), as COAC is short on members by 30% and that lack of a full roster is hindering the committee from fulfilling all the work it would like to do, the groups say.

Trade associations are generally pleased with the trade facilitation discussion draft issued in the Senate last week (see 2407310037), though they all noted that moving to a true one-U.S.-government data submission and release regime requires money, which may not follow, even if the bill becomes law.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, the International Air Transport Association and three other trade groups have asked House and Senate leaders to compel the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to delay the implementation of a rule that would affect the importation of dogs into the U.S.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com Houston's sea ports and airports are asking shippers that use the region to be patient as it recovers from Hurricane Beryl, according to a July 12 email sent by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America to its members.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com Shipping, trucking and freight forwarding associations urged the Federal Maritime Commission to reject a request from a group of major ocean carriers seeking to push back the effective date of the FMC’s new demurrage and detention billing requirements (see 2402230049), saying in public comments to the commission that the delay would cause widespread confusion within the shipping industry. But two of those groups said the FMC should at least consider giving the industry more time to adapt to the rules before punishing violators with fines.

President Biden has signed into law legislation sponsored by the Airforwarders Association (AfA) working with the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association. The Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization legislation aims to modernize the US aviation system and tackle airport truck congestion. It authorizes more than$105 billion in appropriations for the FAA for the next four years, including $19.35 billion for airport infrastructure improvement grants to support more than 3,300 airports across the US. Under the new law, the General Accountability Office will begin a large-scale assessment of air cargo operations across the US with a section dedicated to truck delays and the lack of infrastructure. It gives the current administration a year to carry out the investigation and take the necessary steps to tackle the problem.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America asked the Federal Maritime Commission questions on the demurrage and detention final rule (see 2402230049). The NCBFAA, in comments dated April 22, said the questions were submitted on behalf of its members and other "industry stakeholders" and raised several questions that were not addressed in the final rule.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com CBP in the final review and selection stage" for accreditors of continuing education for customs brokers, and will announce "in the coming months" the start date for broker continuing education requirements, the number of hours required for this triennial reporting period and the names of the approved accreditors, said Shari McCann, director of CBP's Cargo Security and Controls Division, on April 17.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The effective date for the Federal Maritime Commission's new rule on detention and demurrage may not provide a long enough "runway" for industry to prepare, given that it's a "systemic alteration" of how the industry operates, said Ashley Craig of Venable. He said he suspects there will be a lot of "head scratching" after the rule becomes effective on May 28

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com American, Canadian and Mexican customs brokers and freight forwarders are urging Canada to rethink its upcoming deployment of a new customs management system in two months, saying they’re concerned the country’s current approach could significantly disrupt trade.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The Agricultural Marketing Service will begin with a period of soft “enforcement discretion” once its new regulations on organic import certificates take effect on March 19, but importers should nonetheless be working now to get their organic certifications as required under the rules, an AMS official said, speaking during a recent webinar.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is asking for more transparency around recent surcharges imposed by carriers, saying its members are seeing "sharply" increasing rates for shipping routes that never routed through the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden (see 2402080083 and 2401050066).

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said the FDA needs to address a few remaining issues in its recently issued guidance document on upcoming cosmetics registration and product listing requirements.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is asking members to comment on Red Sea shipping experiences ahead of a Federal Maritime Commission meeting on Feb. 7 (see 2401120057). A Jan. 17 email sent by the NCBFAA asked members to share their experiences in the Red Sea and how diversions due to Houthi missile attacks have affected maritime shipping in the region. The association said it plans to compile the responses into an "industry-specific impact statement" that it plans to present at the FMC meeting.

TraversEd has entered an agreement with the NCBFAA Educational Institute (NEI) to offer internationally recognized freight forwarder education to the U.S.

Without a doubt, international trade is Laredo’s No. 1 commodity. And with it comes leadership in the business making this border town the top overall port in the United States with $24 billion of trade. One businessman, with a common Laredo name, Jose D. (JD) Gonzalez, has emerged as a leader and is adding to an impressive resume. International businessman Rodolfo Delgado signaled out with a note to this corner. “My good friend, JD Gonzalez, Laredo born and raised,” is now on the world stage.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America President J.D. Gonzalez said the trade group thinks the Customs Modernization Act is heavily focused on enforcement, and the group is "a little disappointed" that some of the items that NCBFAA talked about with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., didn't find their way into this bill.

The American Association of Exporters & Importers (AAEI) and the NCBFAA Educational Institute (NEI) have launched the Importing 201 course. The Importing 201 course is designed to provide an importer’s compliance professional(s) and corporate leadership with an overview of the key customs topics of knowledge, key compliance functions and their roles, and activities required to build an effective internal compliance program. The course builds on the NEI Import 101 course to strengthen a company’s existing competencies in import compliance to reduce Customs scrutiny.

Reproduced by permission of International Trade Today, Inc., 800-771-9202, InternationalTradeToday.com National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America President J.D. Gonzalez saidrepresentatives from the rail industry and ports, and Homeland Security officials, including Undersecretary Robert Silvers, had a good discussion on how to optimize supply chain flows, but he hopes the group willmeet quarterly and delve “a little bit deeper into some of the processes” needed to make the advisory group effective.