U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is moving ahead with reorganization plans to transfer most of the Washington, D.C.-area USDA staff to five agricultural hubs around the U.S., including Salt Lake City, Utah; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Notice to staff about their new assignments will occur over the next few months. The transfers will include more than half of the 4,600 USDA staff who work in the Washington area.

The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) recently received a question from a customs broker member who was attempting to collect a food facility registration (FFR) number from a manufacturer to file prior notice (PN) for an import entry.

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

With so much focus these days on trade in Washington, D.C., it’s no surprise that registration to attend this year’s NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference (GAC) on Sept. 7-9 has now sold out, well before the early bird registration deadline of Aug. 15!

The U.S. Commerce Department on June 20 published its affirmative preliminary countervailing duty determination on temporary steel fencing from China. Preliminary CVD rates range from 33.27 to 301.83%, with most companies subject to an all-others rate of 86.24%.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on July 23 announced it has adjusted certain customs user fees and corresponding limitations established by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) for Fiscal Year 2026 in accordance with the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act).

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. Updated dates for the remaining webinars are now available.

FIATA, of which NCBFAA is a member, reminded the industry that the European Commission has released a key update in the ongoing implementation of the Import Control System 2 (ICS2). An updated list of “Stop Words”—terms considered to reflect insufficient data quality—has now been published. Use of these terms in Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) may result in automatic filing rejections under ICS2.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on July 23 released its comprehensive analysis of our nation's airport air cargo infrastructure, which supports the position and hard-fought advocacy by the Airforwarders Association (AfA) and NCBFAA to improve aging airport cargo facilities across the country.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome BMI, which has recently joined our association. We're so excited to have this firm join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closely monitoring the Supreme Court’s Sept. 9 order to take up on an expedited schedule, two of the court challenges to the IEEPA tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, as well as association inroads made with lawmakers and their staff on Capitol Hill during NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference on Sept. 9, requesting support for advance notification and transparency related to imposed tariffs. The committee and counsel also continue to track the latest CBP IEEPA tariff guidance and provide updates to NCBFAA members as soon as they’re received.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday, Sept. 12, published an updated list of qualified parties who are eligible to pay duties on international mail shipments, as per Executive Order 14324 of July 30, “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries,” which took effect Aug. 29. The Executive Order effectively ended de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) for all shipments entering the U.S., including via international mail.

NCBFAA members experienced a rich exchange of ideas with an array of Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) at the Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C. Officials from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and USDA Organics — all took part in an informative and lively conversation with NCBFAA on Sept. 8 and a special meeting with the Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) on Sept. 10.

NCBFAA’s sold-out 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, was a resounding success for attendees and included a most informative and exciting agenda of topics led by top-notch industry and government speakers.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 27 will deploy the Automated Rejection of Manifest Filings with Insufficient Cargo Information enhancement to ACE.  This enhancement implements the automated rejection of ACE Manifest filings that have insufficient cargo descriptions, consignee information, and shipper information.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closely monitoring the Supreme Court’s Sept. 9 order to take up on an expedited schedule, two of the court challenges to the IEEPA tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, as well as association inroads made with lawmakers and their staff on Capitol Hill during NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference on Sept. 9, requesting support for advance notification and transparency related to imposed tariffs. The committee and counsel also continue to track the latest CBP IEEPA tariff guidance and provide updates to NCBFAA members as soon as they’re received.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday, Sept. 12, published an updated list of qualified parties who are eligible to pay duties on international mail shipments, as per Executive Order 14324 of July 30, “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries,” which took effect Aug. 29. The Executive Order effectively ended de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) for all shipments entering the U.S., including via international mail.

NCBFAA members experienced a rich exchange of ideas with an array of Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) at the Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C. Officials from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and USDA Organics — all took part in an informative and lively conversation with NCBFAA on Sept. 8 and a special meeting with the Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) on Sept. 10.

NCBFAA’s sold-out 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, was a resounding success for attendees and included a most informative and exciting agenda of topics led by top-notch industry and government speakers.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 27 will deploy the Automated Rejection of Manifest Filings with Insufficient Cargo Information enhancement to ACE.  This enhancement implements the automated rejection of ACE Manifest filings that have insufficient cargo descriptions, consignee information, and shipper information.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closely monitoring the Supreme Court’s Sept. 9 order to take up on an expedited schedule, two of the court challenges to the IEEPA tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration, as well as association inroads made with lawmakers and their staff on Capitol Hill during NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference on Sept. 9, requesting support for advance notification and transparency related to imposed tariffs. The committee and counsel also continue to track the latest CBP IEEPA tariff guidance and provide updates to NCBFAA members as soon as they’re received.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday, Sept. 12, published an updated list of qualified parties who are eligible to pay duties on international mail shipments, as per Executive Order 14324 of July 30, “Suspending Duty-Free De Minimis Treatment for All Countries,” which took effect Aug. 29. The Executive Order effectively ended de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) for all shipments entering the U.S., including via international mail.

NCBFAA members experienced a rich exchange of ideas with an array of Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) at the Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C. Officials from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and USDA Organics — all took part in an informative and lively conversation with NCBFAA on Sept. 8 and a special meeting with the Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) on Sept. 10.

NCBFAA’s sold-out 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, was a resounding success for attendees and included a most informative and exciting agenda of topics led by top-notch industry and government speakers.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 27 will deploy the Automated Rejection of Manifest Filings with Insufficient Cargo Information enhancement to ACE.  This enhancement implements the automated rejection of ACE Manifest filings that have insufficient cargo descriptions, consignee information, and shipper information.