Monday Morning eBriefing

2021 was undoubtedly another roller coaster year filled with challenges due to the ongoing global health crisis and supply chain upheaval. The end of the year, however, brings us hope for calm in both these areas.

The Commerce Department’s Census Bureau proposes to add a conditional data element, country of origin, when “foreign” origin is selected in the Foreign/Domestic Origin Indicator field in the Automated Export System (AES).

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 Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) seeks nominations for its Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. The committee advises the Commerce secretary on the elements of a comprehensive policy approach to supply chain competitiveness. The department intends for the committee to play a key role in developing recommendations to address current global supply chain challenges, including identifying key bottlenecks in supply chains and actionable solutions to address them, advising on the latest advances in supply chain management technology and how to apply them to the current challenges in the economy, and developing long term recommendations to make supply chains more resilient.

The U.S. Commercial Service (USCS) recommends customs brokers and freight forwarders join the agency’s Business Service Provider (BSP) program.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) updated its guidance under the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act relating to:

So, your ocean carrier representative will not bother with your service complaint. What can you do about it then?

Be ready when the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) takes effect on Jan. 1, requiring importers of bulk HFCs to have a “consumption” allowance.

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:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Dec. 13 hosted a virtual meeting with Headquarters’ Office of Strategy Policy Senior Counselor to the Undersecretary for Policy, Joel Meyer, to gather insights from trade to assist in the development of DHS’s 2022 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and 2022-2026 Strategic Plan.

On Dec. 6, President Biden released the first-ever U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption. The strategy outlines a “whole-of-government approach” to elevating the fight against corruption. It places particular emphasis on better understanding and responding to the threat’s transnational dimensions, including by taking additional steps to reduce the ability of corrupt actors to use the U.S. and international financial systems to hide assets and launder the proceeds of corrupt acts. You can read the strategy document here.

Sen. Bill Cassidy’s office during a Dec. 3 telephone conference with trade representatives expressed appreciation for the trade facilitation aspects for consideration in the proposed Customs Modernization Act of 2021 (ModAct-21).

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Dec. 6 published an ACE Development and Deployment Schedule update to the agency’s website here. “This is a notional schedule and subject to change,” CBP said.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking establishments currently exporting certain food products to China to voluntarily submit information to the agency’s Export Listing Module by Dec. 17 in response to new facility registration requirements from China.

NCBFAA mourns the tragic deaths of Peter Almen, 64, of DSV and his wife Ella, 56, recently in Chicago.

During a TSN call on Dec. 9, attendees discussed testing experiences with the Modernized ACE Secure Data Portal. Many of the TSN members who were selected to test the Modernized ACE Secure Data Portal described their experiences as not positive. Only one of the testers was able to successfully log in and navigate the portal. The rest were unable to log in or logged in to test any of the portal functionality.

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 Senate late Tuesday, Dec. 7, by a vote of 50-47 approved the confirmation of Chris Magnus to serve as Customs and Border Protection commissioner. This will be the agency’s first Senate confirmed leader since 2019.

Due to extreme weather conditions in British Columbia, Canada, that have caused flooding, landslides, road closures, and other supply chain disruptions Canadian domestic truck carriers may need to transit through the U.S. to reach destinations in Canada, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said in a Dec. 9 statement to the trade.

The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee on Dec. 2 held a hearing on China trade policy, where Trade Subcommittee Chair Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) suggested Chinese companies are using de minimis to evade U.S. trade laws.