Monday Morning eBriefing

Customs and Border Protection's Office of International Trade recently updated its list of companies/persons who provide data processing services to the trade community for the Automated Broker Interface (ABI).

Customs and Border Protection CBP has posted on CBP.gov a contact list for local Broker Management Officers (BMOs) by Center of Excellence and Expertise, including BMO name, email, phone number, mailing address, and Assistant Center Director.

As we have reported previously, the Senate passed key trade provisions as part of U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. It is going to be a bit more complicated in the House, in part because of time being spent on the Jobs Act, a large infrastructure package currently under consideration.

President Biden and a group of 10 Democratic and Republican senators reportedly reached agreement on a Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework which includes $579 billion for new infrastructure building. An estimated $109 billion will be for roads and bridges, $66 billion for passenger and freight rail, and $16 billion for ports and waterways.

The container shipping markets are in a state unlike anything seen before. There is clearly not sufficient capacity to move all the cargo shippers want to get moved, freight rates are far beyond any previous records, reliability is far worse than at any point in time, and it appears as if every day brings another operational disruption to make matters worse.

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg PA now offers discounts to fellow NCBFAA members when they register for an STR-hosted webinar. Here's the link to the discount

In early April, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking comments on how non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) apply pass-through charges under their tariffs, and the reasonableness of certain tariff access fees. The ANPRM is a part of the FMC's initiative to review existing regulations to determine whether they are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective.

The USDA's Perishable Agricultural Commodities (PACA) Division is reaching out to the produce industry to see if there are ways in which PACA can better serve the industry. See PACA's note to the industry, below, and feel free to share with your clients. You can provide feedback to the PACA contacts shown below.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) still has not issued final guidance on the APHIS-Lacey Phase VI implementation, which is scheduled to occur July 1. USDA leadership is considering multiple requests to extend the deadline. The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) has warned APHIS that the trade must have adequate lead time to prepare for implementation, emphasizing that it will be impossible to implement with only a week's notice.

The Senate on June 16 held a hearing to examine improvements in security, trade, and travel at U.S. land border ports of entry.

The Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act on June 8 to help the U.S. compete with China. This included reinstating the expired Generalized System of Preferences program (GSP), the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill program (MTB), and the product-exclusion process for some 301 tariffs.

Oral Argument Held. On June 17, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) held an oral argument on plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction. The motion sought to create a "stand still" and suspend the liquidation on entries involving the Section 301 duties challenged in the court cases. The motion concerned unliquidated as well as future entries and to avoid irreparable harm by maintaining the status quo. However, it did not address entries that already liquidated as this likely will remain an open issue even if the court grants the injunction.

If you are in the U.S. military reserves, are you eligible to receive your customs broker license?

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on June announced that an updated Drawback/TFTEA Drawback Entry Summary Create/Resubmission CBP and Trade Automated Interface Requirements (CATAIR) document is now available on CBP.gov and can be found at the following link: Drawback Guidelines (version 20).

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

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:

NCBFAA Regulatory Affairs Committee (RAC) members were pleased to hear from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the agency is "actively working" on a process to allow a change of port after an entry is filed.

Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg PA now offers discounts to fellow NCBFAA members when they register for an STR-hosted webinar. Here's the link to the discount.

Freight forwarders are being reminded that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) security requirements takes effect for 100% of all international all-cargo flights by June 30.

NCBFAA members are reminded that aluminum import licenses become mandatory starting June 28.