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

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:

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.

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Dec. 9 published its five-year strategic vision to modern streamline, and further secure air cargo transportation operations. The Air Cargo Security Roadmap is designed to help TSA and air cargo industry stakeholders identify and address emerging threats and ensure the efficient flow of commerce, the agency said.

The ports of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have again postponed their “Container Dwell Fee” until Dec. 13. The fee was previously set to take effect on Monday, Dec. 6.

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:

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) issued a final rule, effective Dec. 9, amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to apply more restrictive treatment to exports and reexports to, and transfers within, Cambodia of items subject to the EAR.

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:

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.