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 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.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Friday, Oct. 10, announced modifications to its Section 301 tariffs on foreign ships calling U.S. ports, effective Oct. 14, as well as the addition of tariffs for container-handling equipment imports.

President Trump in a Truth Social post on Friday, Oct. 10, said that his administration will impose 100% tariffs on China products, “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” by Nov. 1 or sooner, citing an “extraordinary aggressive position” taken by China against the U.S. with new tariffs and increased export controls on rare earth metals.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closing monitoring the imposition of Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber, and derivative products imported into the U.S., starting for entries made on or after Oct. 14, and proposed Section 232 tariffs for heavy-duty truck imports by Nov. 1. The Committee will provide related Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guidance to our customs broker members as soon as it’s received.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped up outreach to the trade to increase awareness of DEA import and export requirements. DEA officials recently visited several local customs broker associations to spread the word about importer and exporter requirements under the Controlled Substances Act with particular emphasis on chemicals that can be used to manufacture fentanyl.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during an Oct. 1 call with the trade that no refunds of any type, including drawback, ACH, etc., are part of the excepted functions currently allowed by the agency during the government shutdown since they’re tied to appropriations.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Friday, Oct. 10, announced modifications to its Section 301 tariffs on foreign ships calling U.S. ports, effective Oct. 14, as well as the addition of tariffs for container-handling equipment imports.

President Trump in a Truth Social post on Friday, Oct. 10, said that his administration will impose 100% tariffs on China products, “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” by Nov. 1 or sooner, citing an “extraordinary aggressive position” taken by China against the U.S. with new tariffs and increased export controls on rare earth metals.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closing monitoring the imposition of Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber, and derivative products imported into the U.S., starting for entries made on or after Oct. 14, and proposed Section 232 tariffs for heavy-duty truck imports by Nov. 1. The Committee will provide related Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guidance to our customs broker members as soon as it’s received.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped up outreach to the trade to increase awareness of DEA import and export requirements. DEA officials recently visited several local customs broker associations to spread the word about importer and exporter requirements under the Controlled Substances Act with particular emphasis on chemicals that can be used to manufacture fentanyl.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during an Oct. 1 call with the trade that no refunds of any type, including drawback, ACH, etc., are part of the excepted functions currently allowed by the agency during the government shutdown since they’re tied to appropriations.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Friday, Oct. 10, announced modifications to its Section 301 tariffs on foreign ships calling U.S. ports, effective Oct. 14, as well as the addition of tariffs for container-handling equipment imports.

President Trump in a Truth Social post on Friday, Oct. 10, said that his administration will impose 100% tariffs on China products, “over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying,” by Nov. 1 or sooner, citing an “extraordinary aggressive position” taken by China against the U.S. with new tariffs and increased export controls on rare earth metals.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., are closing monitoring the imposition of Section 232 tariffs on timber, lumber, and derivative products imported into the U.S., starting for entries made on or after Oct. 14, and proposed Section 232 tariffs for heavy-duty truck imports by Nov. 1. The Committee will provide related Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guidance to our customs broker members as soon as it’s received.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped up outreach to the trade to increase awareness of DEA import and export requirements. DEA officials recently visited several local customs broker associations to spread the word about importer and exporter requirements under the Controlled Substances Act with particular emphasis on chemicals that can be used to manufacture fentanyl.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during an Oct. 1 call with the trade that no refunds of any type, including drawback, ACH, etc., are part of the excepted functions currently allowed by the agency during the government shutdown since they’re tied to appropriations.