Monday Morning eBriefing

NCBFAA is happy to announce that once again we will be offering a $5,000 scholarship to help future members of our industry achieve their goal in furthering their education! This scholarship, provided generously by Roanoke Insurance Group Inc., helps offset the costs students accrue while learning the skills they'll need to succeed in a career in Customs Brokerage, Freight Forwarding or related field, such as international trade. This year’s scholarship winner will be announced during the upcoming 49th Annual Conference at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa in beautiful Tucson in Tucson, Arizona, on May 1-4.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) met in both open and closed session on Jan. 27 to be briefed on efforts to address detention and demurrage and improve supply chain data transparency.

The NCBFAA Export Compliance Sub-Committee has recently completed a thorough review of the SLI model and has updated it to reflect certain regulatory changes.

NCBFAA members are asking questions regarding the April 2022 Customs Brokers Exam and the notice posted on CBP’s website that calls for Title 19, Code of Federal Regulations (2021 Revised as of April 1, 2021) (Parts 1 to Part 199) (CFR 0-140) (CFR 141-199).

The NCBFAA Export Compliance Sub-Committee has recently completed a thorough review of the SLI model and has updated it to reflect certain regulatory changes.

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.

NCBFAA members have expressed interest in the NEI becoming an IATA-accredited “training school” that offers dangerous goods certification. There is a significant financial and structural investment involved in acquiring IATA accreditation.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Jan. 29 will implement changes to the electronic process for reviewing entry summaries.

Starting on Jan. 22 at 12:01 a.m. (local time), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) started requiring non-U.S. individuals seeking entry into the U.S. through land ports of entry and ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccination.

Due to the NCBFAA Legislative Committee’s ongoing lobbying on Capitol Hill, the Customs Business Fairness Act (CBFA) (H.R. 4186) has recently gained three new congressional co-sponsors for CBFA, giving us a total of 20.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), chairman of the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, announced new legislation on Jan. 18 that he said would strengthen U.S. international trade import laws to stop non-market economies and goods from “exploiting” the de minimis threshold that allows imports valued under $800 to enter U.S. commerce without paying duties, taxes, or fees.

NCBFAA has invited Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to address its upcoming 49th Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, on May 1-4.

The O*NET Data Collection Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, is seeking the input of expert Customs Brokers. As the nation's most comprehensive source of occupational data, O*NET is a public resource for millions of job seekers, employers, veterans, educators, and students at www.onetonline.org.

Forwarders spend a good deal of energy explaining export compliance responsibilities to the less educated exporters, only to hear that “you are the only forwarder who is asking me for this information.” The association, in response, provides members an NCBFAA branded USPPI Responsibility Information Sheet as a tool that can be forwarded to or handed out to your export customers.

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 Jan. 28.

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:

Beginning Feb. 28, the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) will begin mandatory ACE filing of the AMS Marketing Order (MO) Message Set.

January’s trending topics on Guidance on HR, Business Management and Operational Risk brought to you by Paychex:

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 Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) delayed implementation of an interim final rule establishing new controls on certain cybersecurity items for National Security (NS) and Anti-terrorism (AT) reasons, along with a new License Exception, Authorized Cybersecurity Exports (ACE) until March 7. The agency originally planned to implement the rule on Jan. 19.