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.

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).

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.

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.

GSP will expire on December 31, 2017 and all goods previously eligible for duty free benefits under the program must be entered with the payment of duties and MPF. CBP has issued instructions (CSMS 17-00789) indicating that otherwise GSP-eligible importations should be flagged with the appropriate Special Programs Indicator ("A," "A*," or "A+"). CBP is developing programing to provide for the batch processing of refunds on all importations made with SPI "A" and duties paid in the event that GSP is renewed with retroactivity.

On December 14, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) and Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY) introduced the Customs Business Fairness Act (HR 4657) to provide relief to customs brokers for duties paid on behalf of importers who declare bankruptcy. Congressman King described the bill as "an effort to eliminate an unfair financial burden borne by customs brokers."

With 2017 rapidly coming to a close, we are looking at supporting our members through the turn-over into the new year. At the writing of this article, it does not appear that GSP will be renewed. NCBFAA has previously published instructions on setting the GSP preferences to have the date of presentation be the date of entry. We encourage you to work with your clients to maximize the savings under this program by timing your entries appropriately.

With year-end fast approaching and the holidays here, what better gift to share with someone (or yourself) than registering for the 2018 NCBFAA Annual Conference in beautiful Rancho Mirage, CA!

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.

As we have reported previously, the NCBFAA is a member of the Coalition for Fair Port Practices and submitted a petition with the FMC asking if the agency would issue an interpretive rule relating to the imposition of demurrage and detention practices. More specifically, the petition, which is docketed as petition number P4-16, asked the commission to require the carriers to extend free time in those situations when NVOCCs and VCOs are unable to pick up containers from the port due to unusual weather, port congestion, labor unrest or other issues beyond their control. That petition has of course been strenuously opposed by carrier and port interests

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.