Monday Morning eBriefing

NCBFAA has been working diligently with our membership, our industry's software developers and CBP on implementing the latest changes in ACE. In addition to the recent updates, ACE has been tasked with managing an ever-changing array of tariffs, PGA requirements and increasing government and trade needs. We are continually updating our ACE tracking list (link) and have put out our white paper (link) in order to further the shared goal of a fully functional ACE system of record. We have added DIS documentation issues to the list as well as updated several other items.

On April 12, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan appeared before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Homeland Security for CBP's FY 2019 budget hearing. While most of his written testimony dealt with immigration and border infrastructure, Commissioner McAleenan had this to say on ACE:

To help better understand the issues and problems surrounding Demurrage and Detention, FMC Commissioner Dye has requested meetings with interested persons attending the NCBFAA Annual Conference.

The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) continues to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to gain a better understanding of the agencies regulatory and procedural data requirements under ACE. Since the implementation of FDA processing in ACE, several questions have arisen regarding data filing for items that may not have been required under ACS. Questions have arisen for illuminating articles such as items containing LED'sand fluorescent bulbs along with food contact materials. Following is the limited response we have received for guidance to the trade.

As we have previously reported, the NCBFAA was part of a coalition of parties that filed a petition with the FMC requesting that the agency issue an interpretive rule on the issue of demurrage and detention charges (in Docket No. P4-16). That petition was filed as a reaction to the excessive demurrage and detention charges assessed by the lines during periods when NVOs and BCOs have been unable to pick up from or deliver containers to the piers for reasons beyond their control. For example, the service meltdown a couple of years in LA/Long Beach and the severe weather that has struck various ports has contributed to significant congestion in the ports, often making it impossible for these containers to move during the existing free time period.

On March 12, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation to nullify the tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by the White House that are scheduled to go into effect on March 24. Flake's bill would prohibit "the implementation of any changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule included by the presidential proclamations [1] [2] dated March 8.

In a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman John Thune and Ranking Member Bill Nelson, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) President Geoffrey Powell offered full support for the re-nomination of Commissioner Daniel B. Maffei to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

Last week, CBP released their "Standard Guidelines for CBP/Trade Outages," a comprehensive guide to the downtime policies and procedures CBP and the trade will follow during ACE system interruptions. According to CBP, this is a "living document" and will be continuously reviewed and updated to adapt to changing circumstances.

CBP has announced that Wednesday, April 25, 2018, will be the date of the next Customs Brokers License Examination. This will be the first of two exams scheduled for this year. The examination application deadline for the exam is Friday, March 16, 2018. All applications must be submitted online here. The cost of the exams is $390 and must be paid at the time of the application. The Pay.gov accepts credit card, debit card, and digital wallet (i.e. PayPal and Amazon Pay) payments. No additional fees are charged for any payments, and receipts are provided electronically.

Late last week, NCBFAA wrote to CBP with questions and comments regarding the upcoming February 24 ACE deployment. The communication included feedback received during its software coalition calls. NCBFAA's calls over these past few weeks have focused increasingly on the ACE deployment that includes drawback and reconciliation. NCBFAA raised several concerns in the letter, including the communication with the trade leading up to the release, the frequency of the technical calls and CATAIR updates, the lack of clarity and transparency surrounding updates of technical documents including the CATAIR and guidance documents, ongoing concerns with testing, the long term issues with lengthy drawback claims that may not be identified for years after this deployment, the system's stability and ability to handle the increased amount of data that will be coming through and the ongoing trade desire to have access to a war room and expanded hours access to the ABI reps. NCBFAA will continue to host software coalition and drawback committee calls in preparation for the February 24 deployment and will be constantly monitoring any issues that arise from the drop over the coming weeks.

Beginning April 7, all filings covered by the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) must comply with the electronic filing requirements in order for the entry to receive a "may proceed." The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had originally adopted an "informed compliance" approach as to not impede the release and clearance of shipments where a filer had incomplete information or was unable to submit data into ACE.

The NCBFAA Board of Directors would like to acknowledge the following 22 new members approved at the January 20 meeting in Baltimore, MD.

The NCBFAA worked with CBP on Thursday and Friday of last week regarding statement issues. We asked CBP for regular CSMS updates to keep the trade informed of the ongoing issues. It is our understanding that there have been other issues aside from what was outlined in CSMS 18-000095. In addition to statements not being received, we received reports of Line Item totals not totaling to the Statement Total, statements that were too large to be transmitted and then forced to split up, potential late PMS payments and other associated warning letters. We ask our members to provide any other problems experienced to Austin Miller or Tom Mathers so we may compile a log of the issues and then discuss with CBP to ensure all issues were properly captured and addressed. We recommend keeping copious logs and notes of any issues you may experience to provide mitigating evidence in case any penalties arise in the future.

The House passed a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (H.R. 4318) by a vote of 402-0 --the first time since 2010. The package contains over 1700 duty suspensions or reductions on imported products not produced in the U.S. With the momentum of the unanimous House vote, supporters are pushing hard for early Senate action on the bill.

CBP has compiled a list of the most common issues users are facing after the Deployment G, Release 3B update that took place on January 6. This list is up-to-date as of January 12.

Last Thursday, CBP announced it will extend the timeframe for initial implementation of the in-bond regulatory changes for all participants for six months. CBP Officers will continue to accept paper CBP Form 7512 and input the data on the trade's behalf until July 2, 2018.

NCBFAA is encouraging our members to prepare for this transition in several ways. First, please consider working with your clients to move your entry filing dates up as much as possible to minimize the number of transactions CBP is processing in ACE over the deployment weekend. Please minimize the number entries, if possible, on the daily statements in order to control the environment as much as possible. We suggest you consider moving your statements that are due to be paid during the deployment week up early to avoid any miscues and non-payment. We also encourage you to reach out to your client rep to make sure they will be in the office during the deployment, and find out what your contingency plan should be if they will not be there. Find your best channel of communication with CBP ahead of the deployment so you will have the best chance of success in resolving an issue should one occur during the drop. We also recommend that you reach out to your software vendors to discuss their plans and how you can be the best partner possible for them during this deployment. Again, find a good communication channel with your vendor before the deployment so you won't have to spend precious time just trying to find the right person to speak with. Finally, you may consider sending a communication similar to the following to your clients:

Every year for the last 25 years, the NCBFAA thanks to its generous sponsor, Affiliate Member Roanoke Trade, has been able to offer a $5,000 scholarship to any individual employed by an NCBFAA Regular member firm (but not owners) and immediate family members.

On Tuesday, December 19, the NCBFAA held a webinar on the upcoming Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018. To watch the webinar in its entirety, click here. For a PDF copy of the presentation, click here.

On December 18, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) mandate for the use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) in all commercial motor vehicles (CMV) went into effect. The mandate, found here, seeks to "improve CMV safety and reduce the overall paperwork burden for both motor carriers and drivers" through use of ELDs. An ELD automatically records driving time, monitors engine hours, vehicle movement, miles driven and driver location. The December 18 deadline was the last day drivers were allowed to use paper logs to monitor hours-of-service (HOS).