Monday Morning eBriefing

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made available for testing in the ACE Certification Environment (CERT) the enhancement for Automated Rejection of Insufficient Cargo Description, Shipper Name, and Consignee Name, effective Aug. 25. CBP noted that the release to the ACE Production Environment (PROD) is set to be deployed on Sept. 27.

To help ACE users take full advantage of ACE Reports functionality, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently began a series of monthly ACE Reports informational webinars, with the next one, ACE Reports Webinar #4: Additional ACE Reports Functionalities, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1-2:30 p.m. ET.

The Port of Houston Seaport announced a change in the Permit to Transfer process for agricultural products. Except for perishable goods (produce), the importer or customs broker who is responsible for each shipment must notify Customs and Border Protection (CBP), via email or phone, of their preferred Centralized Examination Station (CES) location.

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

President Trump announced on Friday, Aug. 22, that his administration has initiated an investigation into furniture imports, with the possibility of imposing tariffs on these products later this year.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will hold its next Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) quarterly meeting in Washington, D.C., from 1-5 p.m. ET on Sept. 17. The meeting will be open to the public via webinar only, the agency said.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Aug. 21 updated its IEEPA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to clarify the unstacking provisions. Specifically, under “IEEPA Overarching,” see the question, “What are the current unstacking provisions?”

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., will continue to track the imposition of additional Section 232 tariffs on U.S. imports aluminum and steel derivatives, watch progress of the U.S. and European Union trade framework agreement announced on Aug. 21, and monitor the Canadian government’s commitment to end certain retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods by Sept. 1.

Customs and Border Protection said recent unannounced visits at Customs Bonded Facilities (CBF) have yielded numerous cases of violations. The agency reminds CBF operators of authorities that CBP Port Directors may exercise in cases of violations.

What are you experiencing with your Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shipments right now? The FDA launched the National Entry Review (NER) program on Aug. 4 to streamline and standardize import operations. The program transitions from port-by-port reviews to a nationwide system by utilizing technology and staff across multiple time zones.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sent a reminder to customs brokers operating in the vicinity of JFK International Airport in New York with contact information for its personnel in the port who can address CPSC-related inquiries.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has provided guidance to the trade on becoming qualified for the payment of duty on international mail shipments. Effective Aug. 29, 2025, de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) will no longer be available for shipments entering into the U.S. not covered by 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b), including those entering through international mail.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in an Aug. 25 Federal Register notice requests comments from the industry related to its Section 232 investigation into the imports of wind turbines and their parts.

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

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

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Across Logistics US, Great Way Trading & Transportation, Luminary Logistics Solutions, and Panmet Group, 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!

NCBFAA is building a most informative and exciting agenda of topics to be addressed by top-notch industry and government speakers during the 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Sept. 8.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated the “Master DEA Drug Code HTS Schedule B Reference Table:Excel” in the AESTIR Appendix X.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is required to adjust civil monetary penalties annually for inflation, effective Aug. 18.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the Cargo Release Status Notification documents (the draft version and the final document) were updated to reflect SO Status Notification and they can be found on cbp.gov.