Monday Morning eBriefing

The biennial renewal of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food facility registrations is upon us. This time, the process requires special attention.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that, for food entries, they continue to receive entry lines with an invalid syntax for the email transmitted in PG21 for the FSV entity. As a result, starting Aug. 8, FDA will tweak its system to ensure it receives an email with a valid syntax.

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

Join your industry colleagues at the 2022 NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18-20 to hear what Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Daniel Maffei has to say about his agency’s initiative to implement the recently enacted Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022).

The strategic rollout of new employee retention ideas can help businesses keep their top talent and maintain productivity. Losing even one employee can cause a significant disruption in workflow, and it may take time for the remaining employees to get back on track.

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

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Trade’s National Commodity Specialist Division and the Office of Trade Relations have announced their lineup of commodity-specific, educational webinars for importers and customs brokers for August.

As an advocate for the entire industry, NCBFAA provides two key resource documents for shippers and freight forwarders that are available to members and non-members alike. NCBFAA’s Shipper’s Letter of Instruction (SLI) Model and the USPPI Responsibility Sheet simplify the reporting process for both shippers and forwarders and help them explain regulations to key partners and industry representatives.

NCBFAA President J.D. Gonzalez offered customs brokers’ perspectives on the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) upcoming e-filing Beta pilot in comments to the Federal Register. The CPSC recently announced the Beta pilot for electronic filing of certain data elements of the CPSC Certificate of Compliance for up to 300 regulated consumer products. The June 10 Federal Register notice invited importers and customs brokers to participate in the pilot.

The NCBFAA Educational Institute (NEI) invites all global logistics professionals to its 8th Annual Global Trade Educational Conference (G·TEC). This two-day event at the InterContinental Magnificent Mile Hotel in Chicago on Aug. 1-2 will give customs brokers, freight forwarders, NVOCCs, OTI, service providers, importers, exporters, and all global logistics professionals an opportunity to update themselves on industry developments and connect with colleagues new and old

NCBFAA knows that you as our members are doing their best to keep up with their day-to-day businesses under dire supply chain circumstances, and now add on top of all that the recent flurry of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. What do these sanctions mean to your business (our industry)? Well, it can be an awful lot, depending on whether you work with customers that had export or import business with Russia prior to invasion.

Join your industry colleagues at the 2022 NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18-20 and make your voice heard loud and clear on regulations and legislation that impact the customs brokerage, freight forwarding and NVOCC industry in the U.S.

For the past several weeks, NCBFAA has called on our Regular Members to send us their questions, experiences, and concerns with the recently implemented Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA 2022) to help our Transportation Committee and Transportation Counsel develop a series of related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome the following member who has recently joined our association: 7 Seas Supply Chain Management Corp dba 7 Seas Logistics, Sunnyside, New York; Hector Grajales, President (email: hector@7seas-scm.com)

A thorough hiring process is essential to business longevity and success. On the flip side, poor hires can undermine the business brand, hinder staff morale, and put client relationships at risk. With so much at stake, what are some of the integral steps for effective hiring? Link to article here.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Aug. 27 will deploy Collections Release 6 – Refunds to ACE. This release will impact the Office of Finance and Office of Field Operations and will have some impact on the Trade community. For the trade, this release will:

Every customs broker knows that interacting with Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) can be the most challenging part of their job. The PGA data requirements are often demanding. And, on top of that, there are just so many agencies!

The NCBFAA Transportation Committee’s Logistics Subcommittee is regularly collecting data on the nation’s rail delays and port congestion that are impacting the supply chain and your business operations.

The Federal Maritime Commission on July 29 announced that it is reorganizing its investigative and prosecution functions by consolidating them into a newly created Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations, and Compliance (BEIC), effective immediately.

NCBFAA Wants You—our Regular Members—to become more active in your association by taking part in one of our myriad Committees and Subcommittees. Every Regular Member can make a markable difference in how our industry operates now and well into the future through their participation in NCBFAA! So, what are you waiting for?