Monday Morning eBriefing

While many Americans look forward to some semblance of a summer vacation during the ongoing battle against COVID, the supply chain woes in Chicago are not taking any breaks and continue to curtail the flow of valuable containerized import cargo from the West Coast ports.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division today signed an interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster increased cooperation and communication in their respective oversight and enforcement responsibilities of the ocean liner shipping industry.

The Census Bureau plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking requiring the specific country of origin information for all foreign goods on Electronic Export Information (EEI) filings in the Automated Export System.

The Census Bureau plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking requiring the specific country of origin information for all foreign goods on Electronic Export Information (EEI) filings in the Automated Export System.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued draft guidance outlining its oversight activities for covered foods imported from countries with Systems Recognition Agreements (SRAs).

As with many large trade associations, the NCBFAA maintains outside counsel positions for guidance and to provide the membership with the highest quality of service available. To that end, we currently contract with two legal counsels, covering general association operations and customs and transportation matters, as well as legislative representative.

President Biden on July 13 announced that he intends to nominate Alan Estevez to be the Commerce Department's next undersecretary for industry and security in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).

The following message was originally broadcast by the Airforwarders Association which granted the NCBFAA Air Freight Subcommittee permission to send out to our membership:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reminded the trade community that former U.S. export restrictions imposed on certain medical supplies and equipment to combat the spread of COVID-19 are now lifted.

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:

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked the import community who deal in FDA-regulated articles to use the Import Trade Auxiliary Communication System (ITACS) for current entry status and to receive Notices of FDA Action electronically.

In a win for the importer-plaintiffs, the U.S. Court of International Trade on July 6 granted a preliminary injunction to suspend the liquidation of unliquidated import entries subject to Lists 3 and 4A duties subject to the Section 301 litigation. Plaintiffs should work with their respective counsel, as appropriate, to ensure they provide additional information that the court requires regarding unliquidated entries and also are handling liquidated entries appropriately.

President Biden on July 9 signed an executive order aimed at promoting competition throughout the U.S. economy, including among freight railroads and the ocean shipping industry.

NCBFAA is notifying members that the U.S. International Trade Commission's 484(f) Committee has made changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) and Schedule B, effective July 1.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 1 issued two of its three highly anticipated U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) regulatory packages setting forth requirements on a range of issues.

Cynthia Whittenburg joins the NCBFAA Educational Institute (NEI) as Associate Director to promote and enhance the knowledge base and professionalism within this dynamic industry.

Trade policy restraint by G20 economies, as well as World Trade Organization (WTO) members more broadly, prevented a "destructive acceleration of protectionist trade measures that would have further hurt the world economy," according to the WTO's latest Trade Monitoring Report.

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 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revoked the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for non-NIOSH-approved disposable respirators, effective July 6, and the EUAs for decontamination and bioburden reduction systems, effective June 30.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has appointed Alberto Flores to serve as port director of the Laredo, Texas port of entry.