Monday Morning eBriefing

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as chair of the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force (FLETF), on Aug. 19 released the 2025 Updates to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Strategy to Prevent the Importation of Goods Mined, Produced, or Manufactured with Forced Labor in the People’s Republic of China.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) on Aug. 12 started an investigation, Recommended Modifications in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, 2028, that it said “will lead to recommendations to the President on necessary changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS) to align it with amendments to the global Harmonized System (HS).”

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., will continue to monitor the progress of the U.S. and China trade deal talks after tariffs, which were set to take effect on China produced goods at 12:01 a.m. ET, Aug. 12, were delayed by President Trump through an Executive Order for 90 days.

The U.S. Census Bureau on Aug. 14 published a final rule in the Federal Register regarding the clarification of filing requirements for in-transit shipments and other provisions under the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR). The changes will take effect Sept. 15.

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

The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) will host a Consumer Product Safety Commission (CBSC) webinar on Oct. 29, 2025, at 2 p.m. ET, featuring a panel with CPSC engaging with customs brokers and an importer about E-filing.

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 Anthony J. Prevosti, Car Freight Shipping, Gamboa International, Laura A. Salazar, and Worldwide Ocean and Air Shipping Lines, 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 excited to announce that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Director for Customs and Trade Affairs in the Office of WTO and Multilateral Affairs Leah Liston has been confirmed to speak at the Government Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Sept. 8.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted Version 34 of the Drawback Error Dictionary on its website. The Drawback Error Dictionary is located under the Supporting Documents section.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has updated the ACE CATAIR Entry Summary Create/Update v106 to include the FY26 Customs User Fees. The adjusted fee amounts and limitations will be applied to imports, effective Oct. 1, 2025.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., have highlighted for our customs broker members the details of the U.S. Russian oil tariff for India and the Aug. 7 implementation of the reciprocal tariffs against a range of country imports, as well as noted the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) related guidance to these tariff actions. In addition, the Committee provided guidance regarding the European Union HTS application of 9903.02.19/9903.02.20.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on July 25 announced that a new treatment recommendation, Shredder-Hammermill, has been added to the list of available treatments in their Treatment Manual to provide an emergency phytosanitary destruction method for dunnage, pallets, wood packaging material (WPM) and other non-compliant wood products.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it will begin making flagging updates to the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) codes related to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reflect the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) bi-annual 484(f) changes to the HTS.

In July, NCBFAA reported that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would soon end paper submissions of the Lacey declaration. Now, it is official — APHIS said on Aug. 8 that paper submissions end, starting Jan. 1, 2026.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to extend the compliance date for the Food Traceability Rule by 30 months — to July 2028. The agency said it remains committed to successful implementation of the full requirements of the final rule, which establishes additional traceability recordkeeping requirements, beyond what is already required in existing regulations, for persons who manufacture, import, process, pack, or hold foods found on the Food Traceability List.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted an updated Cargo Release Condition Codes document which is available in the Supporting Documents section on cbp.gov.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in an Aug. 8 Federal Register notice announced that it has moved the Global Business Identifier (GBI) Evaluative Proof of Concept (EPoC) to full test phase. The agency also announced that adds Altana Technologies USG Inc. as a new Identity Management Company (IMC) and has established a process for other IMCs to support CBP in the test.

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

The Food and Drug Administration (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 utilizing technology and staff across multiple time zones.