Monday Morning eBriefing

The government of Chile will soon send electronic certification (eCert) data to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for products under FSIS jurisdiction exported to the U.S. The change is expected to occur by March 31.

With the Trump administration’s threat to impose a 10 percent tariff on certain imports from Canada, there are many questions of what will happen to this bilateral trade, as well as the overall economies on both sides of the border. NCBFAA will closely monitor these developments closely and inform our members in a timely manner.

Customs and Border Protection on Jan. 17 published interim final rule (IFR) to add implementing regulations to the existing Title 19 Code of Federal Regulations 182 (19 CFR 182) covering the Agreement Between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA).

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the proposed Entry of Low-Value Shipments (ELVS) rule will revise the current process for entering low-value shipments to require additional data elements that would assist the agency in verifying eligibility for duty- and tax-free entry by creating a fully electronic process for filers to transmit entry data prior to a shipment’s arrival.

Under this proposed new rule, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said merchandise subject to specific trade and national security actions would no longer qualify for the de minimis exemption; and certain shipments claiming this exemption will be required to provide the 10-digit HTSUS classification for the imported low-value merchandise.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that will place new controls on certain biotechnology equipment and related technology. Freight Forwarders should be mindful of some important changes that freight.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said a Harmonized System Update (HSU) 2501 was created on Jan. 13 which contains 47 harmonized tariff records and 228 ABI records, including several PGA HTS flag updates as well as adjustments required by the verification of the 2025 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS).

The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) contacted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after several NCBFAA members expressed concerns about the proposed Intended Use Codes (IUCs) for ceramicware products (CCW) outlined in CSMS #63443664.

The NCBFAA Power of Attorney (POA) Handbook (Fourth Edition), which was released in 2023, incorporates recent regulatory changes, as well as a current and exhaustive catalogue of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations, rulings, decisions, and guidance for reference. If you haven’t done so already, we strongly encourage you to order this “must have” publication as soon as possible, especially with the promise of significant changes to trade policy with the incoming Administration this month.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Jan. 21 will deploy enhancements to Drawback functionality in ACE, including a new certification indicator for petroleum Superfund tax drawback claims and new validations and associated error messages.

Geoff Powell will receive the coveted NCBFAA Centurion Award during the 52nd Annual Conference at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Arizona on April 6-9. NCBFAA will present this award to Powell, a longtime NCBFAA Member, Committee Chair, Past President, and Senior Counselor of the association, in appreciation of his outstanding vision, leadership, and dedication to the betterment of the international freight transportation community.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Jan. 14 added 37 Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List, raising the total number of entities on the list to 144.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Feb. 15 will deploy an enhancement to ACE Multi-Modal Manifest (MMM) to facilitate the transfer of held air cargo shipments to Centralized Examination Stations (CESs) and Container Freight Stations (CFSs).

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Jan. 16 released its 2024 Year in Review, outlining new security and technology deployments and other processes that have improved the agency’s interaction with the traveling public and air cargo environment.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Afar Logistics, Bull Customs Brokerage, Columbus-Cargo USA, Gaia Dynamics, Intera Trade & Customs Services, and Quick Release, which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposes to update CBP Form 301 instructions to add reference to a new collection under activity code 21 for a Low Value Shipment Safekeeping (LVSS) bond. In a Dec. 23 Federal Register notice, the agency has requested comments from the trade regarding this proposal.

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently released an updated Section 1260H List of entities designated by the agency as “Chinese military companies”. The list’s primary prohibition, which is expected to take effect next year, is limited to new government contracts.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday, Jan. 11, deployed the second release of the Section 321 – Does Not Exceed $800 in Aggregated Shipments enhancement to ACE. This enhancement will provide a warning in ACE when a de minimis shipment may exceed the $800 per person/per day threshold. This release will include electronic data interchange (EDI) impacts.