The House passed a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (H.R. 4318) by a vote of 402-0 --the first time since 2010. The package contains over 1700 duty suspensions or reductions on imported products not produced in the U.S. With the momentum of the unanimous House vote, supporters are pushing hard for early Senate action on the bill.

CBP has compiled a list of the most common issues users are facing after the Deployment G, Release 3B update that took place on January 6. This list is up-to-date as of January 12.

Last Thursday, CBP announced it will extend the timeframe for initial implementation of the in-bond regulatory changes for all participants for six months. CBP Officers will continue to accept paper CBP Form 7512 and input the data on the trade's behalf until July 2, 2018.

NCBFAA is encouraging our members to prepare for this transition in several ways. First, please consider working with your clients to move your entry filing dates up as much as possible to minimize the number of transactions CBP is processing in ACE over the deployment weekend. Please minimize the number entries, if possible, on the daily statements in order to control the environment as much as possible. We suggest you consider moving your statements that are due to be paid during the deployment week up early to avoid any miscues and non-payment. We also encourage you to reach out to your client rep to make sure they will be in the office during the deployment, and find out what your contingency plan should be if they will not be there. Find your best channel of communication with CBP ahead of the deployment so you will have the best chance of success in resolving an issue should one occur during the drop. We also recommend that you reach out to your software vendors to discuss their plans and how you can be the best partner possible for them during this deployment. Again, find a good communication channel with your vendor before the deployment so you won't have to spend precious time just trying to find the right person to speak with. Finally, you may consider sending a communication similar to the following to your clients:

Every year for the last 25 years, the NCBFAA thanks to its generous sponsor, Affiliate Member Roanoke Trade, has been able to offer a $5,000 scholarship to any individual employed by an NCBFAA Regular member firm (but not owners) and immediate family members.

On December 18, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) mandate for the use of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) in all commercial motor vehicles (CMV) went into effect. The mandate, found here, seeks to "improve CMV safety and reduce the overall paperwork burden for both motor carriers and drivers" through use of ELDs. An ELD automatically records driving time, monitors engine hours, vehicle movement, miles driven and driver location. The December 18 deadline was the last day drivers were allowed to use paper logs to monitor hours-of-service (HOS).

On Tuesday, December 19, the NCBFAA held a webinar on the upcoming Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2018. To watch the webinar in its entirety, click here. For a PDF copy of the presentation, click here.

A second request to confirm the accuracy of the corporate information in the NCBFAA databases was sent to those designated as the primary contact to represent their company for the NCBFAA. For those who had responded to the original request, thank you; all others are encouraged to please take a few minutes to use the access credentials included in that email communication to review, and if necessary to update, your company's information. Even if you already responded, you may want to confirm that your updated information is correct.

This week NCBFAA Executive Vice President Megan Montgomery attended the NCBFAA Legislative Committee meeting, which focused on the recently introduced bankruptcy bill and our industry efforts to support getting that passed, sat in on the TSN's Trade Leadership Call, staffed the Customs Committee meeting and tried to put all the loose ends on her desk to bed before the new year starts with some administrative work over the course of the week.

As you know, the FMC has initiated - at the NCBFAA's request - a proposed rulemaking that seeks to further ease regulatory requirements on NRAs and NSAs. The Association will be filing comments and we hope that the members will also individually file comments. For that purpose, you can review the comments you originally filed in the Docket P2-15 that supported the Association's petition in this matter. We will provide further information to assist you in drafting those comments.

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.