Monday Morning eBriefing

NCBFAA filed a Petition for Reconsideration with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), urging the Commission to reconsider the import requirements for radio frequency (RF) devices provided in a final rule published on November 2, 2017. In the Petition, NCBFAA explains that the rule inappropriately equates brokers with importers and consignees, who have an ownership interest in the product, are primary parties to the transaction and are most likely to be familiar with the product's technical characteristics.

NCBFAA has worked diligently with CBP in the wake of the most recent customs broker licensing exam to find a workable remedy for our future fellow members of the LCB community. NCBFAA's Customs Committee, Customs Counsel Alan Klestadt and EVP Megan Montgomery spearheaded a comment collection campaign to identify testing site issues, communicate with the LCB applicants, and worked with CBP to fashion a remedy that best serves the needs of CBP, the LCB community as a whole and the applicants themselves as well. CBP was eager to support the applicants who experienced test day issues and we were grateful for the opportunity to advocate on behalf of our members and future members. The final remedy included the opportunity for unsuccessful candidates to sit for a future exam free of additional charges and a renewed focus on getting the electronic testing perfected before the April 2018 exam. NCBFAA and CBP remain committed together to modernizing the brokers exam and deliver timely results to future applicants.

NCBFAA is encouraging our members to prepare for this transition in several ways. First, please 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(s). Please minimize the number entries, if possible, on the daily statements in order to control the environment as much as possible. We suggest you move your statements that are due to be paid during the deployment week up early to avoid any miscues and non-payment. Remember to alert your clients if you move their statement dates so they too can have the best information possible. 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:

After serving for five years on the FMC, Commissioner William P. Doyle has announced his intention to leave the Commission effective January 3, 2018. Nominated to the post by President Barack Obama, he was confirmed for his first term on January 1, 2013, and for his second term on January 29, 2015.

NCBFAA's Regulatory Agencies Committee and the FDA have been working in partnership for over 5 years on the development of filer review guidelines that are fair, equitable and uniform across all 5 FDA US districts. In conjunction with this collaboration, FDA has offered NCBFAA's members the opportunity to participate in a pilot of these filer review guidelines between January to mid-February 2018. The guidelines are currently still in draft form but will be released to eligible potential participants upon request.

On November 27, 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a final rule entitled Changes to the In-Bond Process. The final rule adopted, with several changes, proposed amendments to CBP regulations regarding the in-bond process.

The CBP 2017 ACE Customer Satisfaction Survey is open now through midnight, December 8. CBP encourages all importers, brokers, carriers and other trade community users of ACE to take the 5-10 minute voluntary and anonymous survey. Results from this survey allow CBP to gauge the impact of ACE and to identify areas needing improvement. Because of the larger the response the more meaningful the survey results, the NCBFAA urges all members affected by ACE to take the time to participate in this exercise.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA) directed the FDA to better protect public health by adopting a modern, preventive, and risk-based approach to food safety regulation. The FDA's final rule, Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food (Sanitary Transportation rule), establishes requirements for shippers, loaders, carriers by motor vehicle and rail vehicle, and receivers engaged in the transportation of food, including food for animals, to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of the food they transport.

The results of CBP's October 25th Customs Broker Exam as well as the answer key and remedies available for the folks who were unsuccessful will be sent to test takers this week (the week of the 27th). The NCBFAA worked diligently with CBP to try and find a remedy for the issues experienced during the exam and we hope that our colleagues and future members are well served by our efforts.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday last week and a great start to their holiday season. As it was a short week, NCBFAA Executive Vice President Megan Montgomery dedicated a majority of her time to internal administration of the Association and preparation for a busy December of traveling. She looks forward to see everyone at either the upcoming Florida Brokers Conference of the America's or CBP's East Coast Trade Symposium. The Association continued to monitor the progress on ACE stabilization and the upcoming deployments. We are planning for the future with a staff wide meeting on how our website can better serve members over the upcoming year. If you have any thoughts on the current website (content, layout, ease of use, organization, etc.) please shoot Megan an email between now and December 8th so we can have the best staff discussion possible about how to best meet our member's needs.

Many freight forwarders, brokers, and U.S. companies are not aware of the best kept secret within the federal government. It's a tool available to help thousands of businesses expand and grow through selling their products and services internationally. The sole purpose of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is to help American businesses grow through exporting. That is why the NCBFAA is providing an opportunity to learn more about EXIM -- America's official export credit agency. EXIM empowers U.S. companies to fight for and win more international sales through providing working capital, insurance, and loan guarantees. In fact, EXIM is already providing trade finance support to many freight forwarders, including NCBFAA member firm World Commerce Forwarding, and exporters like ATN Industries.

The submission period for the 2018 CBP triennial status report and fee for all licensed customs brokers opens Dec. 15, 2017, and runs through Feb. 28, 2018.

The Federal Maritime Commission today announced January 16 and 17, 2018 as the dates it will hold public hearings to receive testimony from maritime industry witnesses regarding a petition filed by the Coalition for Fair Port Practices (Petition P4-16) that raised issues associated with detention, demurrage, and per diem charges.

In CSMS message #17-000718, CBP says it "intends to provide on a national basis one additional day for payments attempted to be made on November 14, 2017. CBP will work with members of the trade community that were impacted by this outage. If needed, CBP will provide support on an individual basis and address any payment issues during this outage.

NCBFAA has been monitoring the ACE downtime over the past 24 hours. While we are pleased that CBP was able to get ACE back up and running by 11 pm ET, we have continuing questions on downtime policies and procedures, the communication channels for those downtime producers, and port uniformity of downtime procedures. For more information about the initial CBP communications, please see CSMS message #17-000714.

NCBFAA is encouraging our members to prepare for this transition in several ways. First, please 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(s). Please minimize the number entries, if possible, on the daily statements in order to control the environment as much as possible. We suggest you move your statements that are due to be paid during the deployment week up early to avoid any miscues and non-payment. Remember to alert your clients if you move their statement dates so they too can have the best information possible. 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:

Earlier this year, during the quarterly Board of Director's meeting, a decision was reached by our Board of Directors regarding 2018's membership dues. There will be a 5% increase next year due to the increase and need for advocacy over the last year and the rising costs associated to remain in a position in which we can address the challenges and opportunities within our industry. We strive to improve on the value we bring to our members. Here are just a few examples of value we've added to your company and our industry over the last year:

A number of members have reported the growing trend by several steamship lines to stop paying forwarder compensation to ocean forwarders. Some carriers have explained their rationale for doing so is that the use of IT systems to exchange shipping data has somehow reduced the importance of services provided by ocean forwarders. The NCBFAA is well aware that this is not the case and that forwarders are often required, for example, to correct data entry errors made by the carriers, just to mention one of the key services that forwarders provide. Other carriers have provided no explanation and just take the position that they won't continue to pay compensation and simply eliminate their tariff rule providing for the payment of compensation.

Consumers should work with licensed international shipping companies when shipping personal effects and automobiles overseas. Unlicensed companies are not authorized to provide international ocean shipping services. Recently the Commission received questions and complaints about these companies shipping cargo and household goods primarily between the U.S. and Brazil:

We have previously reported that the NCBFAA, in conjunction with a large number of other trade associations, that was collectively referred to as the Coalition for Fair Port Practices, filed a petition with the FMC raising issues associated with detention, demurrage and per diem charges assessed during periods of port congestion. Essentially, the NCBFAA and the Coalition requested the FMC to establish an interpretive rule that would require the carriers and ports to extend the number of free days accorded NVOCCs and cargo interests during those periods when congestion, severe weather, or other issues prevented parties from timely picking up or returning containers to the ports and the carriers.