Monday Morning eBriefing

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Executive Director of Import Surveillance, Jim Joholske, told NCBFAA that the CPSC is "very pleased" with the implementation of import certificate eFiling. He thanked the association's customs broker members for their efforts to get the trade ready for e-Filing certificate data. "There's no doubt about it, your involvement helped drive participation," he said.

Starting Saturday, Oct. 10, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require email or short message service (SMS) verification for Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) refund information changes made in the ACE Secure Data Portal. The agency said, "this additional verification step enhances ACE Portal security while maximizing flexibility for users."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) invites comments by Nov. 9 regarding the current and potential impact of the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on overall U.S. trade with the EU. Specifically, USTR requests comments on the impact of the CBAM on U.S. trade with the EU, as well as the potential impact of the EU's proposals to expand CBAM coverage. Such comments will help inform continued USTR and U.S. government engagement with the EU on CBAM.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is starting a public consultation process in advance of the 2027 annual joint review meeting of the USMCA between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. As directed by Congress, USTR requests public comments on the operation of the trilateral trade agreement. USTR must receive all written comments and requests to appear at the public hearing by 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 12, 2027.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) provided guidance to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regarding the assessment of “U.S. content” for products of Canada and Mexico that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), for purposes of implementing tariffs pursuant to Proclamation 11032 of June 1, 2026. Specifically, the guidance presented in this notice is effective with respect to products that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 14.

It is with profound sadness that NCBFAA notifies our membership of the recent passing of Robert Coleman of Tigard, Oregon, on Sept. 29. He was 78. Bob was a Past President of both the Columbia River Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association (CRCBFA) and Pacific Coast Council (PCC) of Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association and served as a NCBFAA Board Member (Area 6). Over the years, he became an outspoken defender of the U.S. freight forwarding industry not only in the Pacific Northwest region but nationally through his testimony on Capitol Hill.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) now has three commissioners following the recent Senate confirmation of Karen Sessions and Brian Lorenz. For almost a year, the CPSC had only one commissioner with no quorum to conduct new business, hampering the commission's ability to move forward on new regulatory initiatives. Now that the CPSC has a quorum, it has the operational capacity to pursue new enforcement and regulatory actions.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome American Commercial Transport, D’Ann L. Brown, Hoist AI, Imago Logistics, Jose Munoz & Associates, and Lu Liu, which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) in a declaration that it had deployed Phase 3 of the Consolidated Administration and Process of Entries (CAPE) in ACE at 5:10 a.m. ET on Oct. 6. This phase covers finally liquidated entries filed by plaintiffs for which the CIT has ordered reliquidation.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Oct. 7 Federal Register in which the agency proposes to amend its regulations to modify filing requirements for informal entries of goods valued at $2,500 or less and to establish a new electronic informal entry type for merchandise entering through the mail environment. The agency also proposes other related changes such as requiring an additional data element for carriers pertaining to mail shipments and imposing bonding requirements for certain informal entries.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

In guidance issued Oct. 1, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will not enforce the new requirement to provide the mail service name and tracking number until May 1, 2027, since the receiving systems are not ready.

The USDA National Organic Program's (NOP) Jonathan Veley joined the NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) immediately following the Sept. 27-29 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., to provide updates on NOP import certificate filing.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Oct. 6 published a notice of conforming amendment to product exclusion in the Federal Register related to China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined his trade minister counterparts from Mexico and Argentina to issue a statement to eliminate forced labor in global supply chains on the margins of the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Oct. 1.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture & Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise notified the trade, effective Oct. 5, that the entry requirements for potatoes originating in Prince Edward Island, Canada, have changed.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Oct. 1 sent an email to individually licensed customs brokers from the agency's CE email, recommending that they file their TSR as soon as their CE credits are complete. The deadline to complete the 20 hours of CE credits is Jan. 31, 2027.

This is the year that food facilities — both foreign and domestic — must renew their food facility registrations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, owners, operators, or agents in charge of a domestic or foreign facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for consumption by humans or animals in the U.S. are required to submit their registration renewal with FDA. Customs brokers should alert their importer clients to make sure that foreign manufacturers or growers in their supply chain file a timely registration renewal with the agency.

It is with profound sadness that NCBFAA notifies our membership of the recent passing of David Katzman, of Ashland, Massachusetts, on Sept. 25. He was 78. David was a past president of the Boston Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association and served as Treasurer and in other committee leadership roles for many years in NCBFAA. He spoke often on customs compliance at trade conferences and industry colleagues across the country appreciated his integrity.