Monday Morning eBriefing

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:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Feb. 28 issued an update to its Jan. 27 message to the trade providing guidance on new Section 301 modifications made to certain classifications within the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in lockstep with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI, and the National Security Agency (NSA), is urging U.S. infrastructure operators and air transport providers to protect themselves against the possible increase in cyberattacks.

In response to Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has expanded sanctions against Russia by adding a new prohibition under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) that targets the country’s oil refinery industry.

Customs Brokers may be liable for charges under current practices by ocean carriers naming them as “merchant” as listed in terms and conditions of their master bills of lading. The carriers’ intention by use of a broad definition of merchant casts a wide net over multiple parties they can hold responsible for charges related to the bill of lading.

The immediate impact to freight forwarders is that the sanctions to Belarus have been extended to also include most controlled items effective with shipments on March 3. The most immediate impact to AES filers is that now all products with an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) in categories 3-9 (meaning those that begin with 3-9 (example 8A992) now require licenses if they are ultimately destined to Belarus as well as Russia. This applies even if goods are going to a different country, but we know that they are ultimately destined to Russia. If you report these ECCNs to AES, we anticipate that they will result in an AES Response “66Q” Compliance Alert soon, like what we see for Russia. BIS is in the process of updating this AES response message to include Belarus and will advise NCBFAA once that has been completed. This will be an additional indicator that these shipments CANNOT MOVE, but for now you it will be up to you to identify the shipments without benefit of an AES response message.

While the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force has taken steps to address the nation’s problem with seaport congestion, NCBFAA has asked the task force to not exclude air freight from that effort

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome the following members who have recently joined our association:

Here is a summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable:

While the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force has taken steps to address the nation’s problem with seaport congestion, NCBFAA has asked the task force to not exclude air freight from that effort.

An NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) Subcommittee met with a team from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to explore ways to increase the use of e-phytosanitary certificates by the trade.

NCBFAA would like to alert our members that to continue to use your new ACE account login after the initial login, you must go in and relink your Legacy ACE account. If you have done so but are now unable to access Legacy ACE and are getting error messages the password for your Legacy ACE account may have expired. Your trade account owner (TAO) should be able to reset your Legacy ACE password, and then you should then be able to log back into Modernized ACE and relink your Legacy ACE account.

Customs and Border Protection reminded the trade about the transition to upgraded versions of certain data universes in ACE Reports on March 17. These upgraded data universes all currently have the suffix of “New” in their name to make them easily identifiable.

Customs and Border Protection reminded the trade about the transition to upgraded versions of certain data universes in ACE Reports on March 17. These upgraded data universes all currently have the suffix of “New” in their name to make them easily identifiable.

NCBFAA on March 22 marked its 125th Anniversary as a trade association that continuously serves the interests of our members with unwavering determination and pursues a path forward that ensures a vibrant and prosperous future for our nation’s customs brokers, freight forwarders and NVOCCs.

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 ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have continued to postpone their “Container Dwell Fee,” and said they will reconsider its possible imposition on March 4.

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.

Customs Brokers may be liable for charges under current practices by ocean carriers naming them as “merchant” as listed in terms and conditions of their master bills of lading. The carriers’ intention by use of a broad definition of merchant casts a wide net over multiple parties they can hold responsible for charges related to the bill of lading.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have continued to postpone their “Container Dwell Fee,” and said they will reconsider its possible imposition on March 4.