The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) continues to work with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to gain a better understanding of the agencies regulatory and procedural data requirements under ACE. Since the implementation of FDA processing in ACE, several questions have arisen regarding data filing for items that may not have been required under ACS. Questions have arisen for illuminating articles such as items containing LED'sand fluorescent bulbs along with food contact materials. Following is the limited response we have received for guidance to the trade.

As we have previously reported, the NCBFAA was part of a coalition of parties that filed a petition with the FMC requesting that the agency issue an interpretive rule on the issue of demurrage and detention charges (in Docket No. P4-16). That petition was filed as a reaction to the excessive demurrage and detention charges assessed by the lines during periods when NVOs and BCOs have been unable to pick up from or deliver containers to the piers for reasons beyond their control. For example, the service meltdown a couple of years in LA/Long Beach and the severe weather that has struck various ports has contributed to significant congestion in the ports, often making it impossible for these containers to move during the existing free time period.

On March 12, U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation to nullify the tariffs on steel and aluminum announced by the White House that are scheduled to go into effect on March 24. Flake's bill would prohibit "the implementation of any changes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule included by the presidential proclamations [1] [2] dated March 8.

In a letter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman John Thune and Ranking Member Bill Nelson, National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) President Geoffrey Powell offered full support for the re-nomination of Commissioner Daniel B. Maffei to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).

Last week, CBP released their "Standard Guidelines for CBP/Trade Outages," a comprehensive guide to the downtime policies and procedures CBP and the trade will follow during ACE system interruptions. According to CBP, this is a "living document" and will be continuously reviewed and updated to adapt to changing circumstances.

CBP has announced that Wednesday, April 25, 2018, will be the date of the next Customs Brokers License Examination. This will be the first of two exams scheduled for this year. The examination application deadline for the exam is Friday, March 16, 2018. All applications must be submitted online here. The cost of the exams is $390 and must be paid at the time of the application. The Pay.gov accepts credit card, debit card, and digital wallet (i.e. PayPal and Amazon Pay) payments. No additional fees are charged for any payments, and receipts are provided electronically.

Late last week, NCBFAA wrote to CBP with questions and comments regarding the upcoming February 24 ACE deployment. The communication included feedback received during its software coalition calls. NCBFAA's calls over these past few weeks have focused increasingly on the ACE deployment that includes drawback and reconciliation. NCBFAA raised several concerns in the letter, including the communication with the trade leading up to the release, the frequency of the technical calls and CATAIR updates, the lack of clarity and transparency surrounding updates of technical documents including the CATAIR and guidance documents, ongoing concerns with testing, the long term issues with lengthy drawback claims that may not be identified for years after this deployment, the system's stability and ability to handle the increased amount of data that will be coming through and the ongoing trade desire to have access to a war room and expanded hours access to the ABI reps. NCBFAA will continue to host software coalition and drawback committee calls in preparation for the February 24 deployment and will be constantly monitoring any issues that arise from the drop over the coming weeks.

Beginning April 7, all filings covered by the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) must comply with the electronic filing requirements in order for the entry to receive a "may proceed." The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had originally adopted an "informed compliance" approach as to not impede the release and clearance of shipments where a filer had incomplete information or was unable to submit data into ACE.

The NCBFAA Board of Directors would like to acknowledge the following 22 new members approved at the January 20 meeting in Baltimore, MD.

The NCBFAA worked with CBP on Thursday and Friday of last week regarding statement issues. We asked CBP for regular CSMS updates to keep the trade informed of the ongoing issues. It is our understanding that there have been other issues aside from what was outlined in CSMS 18-000095. In addition to statements not being received, we received reports of Line Item totals not totaling to the Statement Total, statements that were too large to be transmitted and then forced to split up, potential late PMS payments and other associated warning letters. We ask our members to provide any other problems experienced to Austin Miller or Tom Mathers so we may compile a log of the issues and then discuss with CBP to ensure all issues were properly captured and addressed. We recommend keeping copious logs and notes of any issues you may experience to provide mitigating evidence in case any penalties arise in the future.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. is tracking the outcome of U.S.-Vietnam trade deal, ongoing U.S.-Canadian trade discussions, and CBP tariff guidance updates for the association's customs broker members and their importer clients.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), effective July 1, revoked the Syria Sanctions as authorized in Executive Order (EO) 14312.

On July 16 at 2 p.m. ET, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will hold a special “virtual office hours” session to discuss challenges and experiences of customs brokers and industry members who have participated in the CPSC e-Filing pilot.

With so much focus on trade in Washington, D.C., these days, NCBFAA anticipates that the 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, will sell out of our room block at the Grand Hyatt Washington well before the room rate cut-off date of Aug. 7.

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 Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. is tracking the outcome of U.S.-Vietnam trade deal, ongoing U.S.-Canadian trade discussions, and CBP tariff guidance updates for the association's customs broker members and their importer clients.

On July 16 at 2 p.m. ET, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will hold a special “virtual office hours” session to discuss challenges and experiences of customs brokers and industry members who have participated in the CPSC e-Filing pilot.

With so much focus on trade in Washington, D.C., these days, NCBFAA anticipates that the 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, will sell out of our room block at the Grand Hyatt Washington well before the room rate cut-off date of Aug. 7.

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 7 Star Logistics Solutions, Farris Customs Brokers, Infinito Global Trade Network, and Karl Gross Logistics (USA), 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!

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. is tracking the outcome of U.S.-Vietnam trade deal, ongoing U.S.-Canadian trade discussions, and CBP tariff guidance updates for the association's customs broker members and their importer clients.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), effective July 1, revoked the Syria Sanctions as authorized in Executive Order (EO) 14312.

FIATA’s new Best Practice Guide on Maritime Contracting helps freight forwarders navigate this landscape by clarifying the implications of acting under different capacities when engaging with ocean carriers.

On July 16 at 2 p.m. ET, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will hold a special “virtual office hours” session to discuss challenges and experiences of customs brokers and industry members who have participated in the CPSC e-Filing pilot.

With so much focus on trade in Washington, D.C., these days, NCBFAA anticipates that the 2025 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 7-9, will sell out of our room block at the Grand Hyatt Washington well before the room rate cut-off date of Aug. 7.