International Trade Law News

An unusual criminal case involving a customs broker illustrates the need for U.S. importers to be vigilant in exercising oversight over the activity of their customs brokers.

Earlier this week a New York-based customs broker was sentenced to 24 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution for defrauding an importer of medical equipment by submitting false customs documents that indicated that the importer owed customs duties on goods that were actually duty free.

According to the Justice Department, the customs broker, who had served as the importer's broker since 1980, continued to invoice the importer for customs duties over a seven year period even though the U.S. duty rate had decreased on  imported medical equipment from 5.5% to duty free.

To show that the invoices were legitimate, the customs broker sent the importer falsified customs forms that indicated the amount of duty owed on the medical equipment. As a result, the importer reimbursed the customs broker for duties that the broker never paid, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $9,000 per customs entry. By the time the importer discovered the problem seven years later the broker had defrauded the importer out of almost $1.2 million.

Under U.S. law, a conviction of a customs broker of a crime involving the importation of merchandise or arising out of the conduct of customs business is grounds for revocation of a customs broker license. As a result, assuming that this case is not overturned on appeal, the defendant's customs broker's license will be revoked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

While this type of activity by a customs broker is extremely rare (customs brokers must undergo an extensive background check before they receive their broker's license), this situation could have been easily avoided had the importer audited the customs entries to verify that the amount of duties and fees shown on the invoices and documents provided by the broker was consistent with the applicable duty rate shown on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.

Labels: CBP; Marking, Customs, Customs Brokers

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the creation of the Import Safety Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC)—a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility designed to streamline and enhance federal efforts to address import safety issues.

The Import Safety CTAC will combine the resources and manpower of CBP and other government agencies—including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety Inspection Service—to protect the American public from harm caused by unsafe imported products by improving communication and information-sharing and reducing redundant inspection activities.

The new facility, which will be headed by and located adjacent to CBP's Office of International Trade in Washington, DC, reflects the three core principles announced by President Obama's Food Safety Working Group in July: prevention, surveillance and response. Created in March, the Working Group was tasked with advising President Obama on how to upgrade the U.S. food safety system.

Approximately 30 personnel, representing all of the participating agencies, will work at the CTAC.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted on its website some of the materials that we will be presented during n the breakout sessions at next week's 2009 Trade Symposium.

Among the materials now available for review include information on C-TPAT, antidumping and countervailing duty functionality in ACE, post entry summary corrections in ACE and customs rulings.

For those that cannot attend the sold-out program in person, CBP will be presenting a live webcast of many of the sessions from the Trade Symposium. To view the presentations and for more details on the webcast click here.

Labels: Antidumping, C-TPAT, CBP, Customs

Labels: Customs, Export Controls

Today's guest post is by Rick Miller, director of trade compliance recruitment at Tyler Search Consultants. Rick is a licensed customs broker and served as director of trade compliance for several large companies before joining Tyler Search. Rick can be reached at rmiller@tylersearch.com.

Companies of all sizes in all industries struggle with trade compliance programs and the trade compliance role. There are many reasons why a compliance program is controversial. Here are the top 10 reasons why a trade compliance program is truly an unnecessary waste of resources:

1. Trade compliance is a cost center with no financial benefit to the company.
Except for avoiding audits, penalties and border delays. Except for avoiding duty under special programs such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the Generalized System of Preferences. Except for tariff engineering, broker management, supplier management.

2. Classification is easy.
Anyone can do it - just pick the lowest duty rate and let Customs tell us if we're wrong. Until Customs catches you and sends you a bill for the duty (plus interest) for all entries made over the last five years. And don't forget the penalty that's sure to follow.

3. Shipments to and from Canada and Mexico are not really imports/exports.
Tell that to U.S. Customs. Canada and Mexico may be our biggest trading partners, but they have their own customs services to deal with. And, oh yeah, those folks at Commerce may require an export license.

4. Any product purchased in the U.S. is U.S.-origin.
The trade deficit must come from somewhere ... make sure you ask before you assume. Get it in writing and then ask again.

5. Any U.S.-origin product is NAFTA-eligible.
Unless you are audited, of course. The NAFTA rules of origin are complex and vary tremendously depending on the item. The value of U.S. components may or may not have anything to do with eligibility - even with 99 percent U.S. components. When importing under NAFTA, every compliance professional needs to verify the supplier's certificate of origin. Ask and ask again.

6. We have been doing business for years without worrying about Customs.
Ever notice that all the big penalty cases in the news are for companies that have been around for a while?

7. Our customs brokers and freight forwarders are responsible for compliance.
Importers of record for imports and U.S. principal parties of interest for exports are on the hook not the broker or forwarder - period! Ever look at the liability limitations on your broker and/or forwarder agreements?

8. We need to make exceptions for big customers or we'll lose the business.
So if I walk past the bank every day on my way to work and only rob it once, the judge will let me off the hook because I was good most of the time? Where is my duffle bag?

9. C-TPAT is not mandatory, so we aren't spending any money or dedicating any resources to it.
Sure it is not mandatory, but don't come crying to trade compliance when the borders tighten up and your non-C-TPAT shipments are delayed while all C-TPAT importers are given a priority.

10. Compliance slows deliveries.
Noncompliant importers will face many more inspections and delays, especially after Customs finds the first problem. Due to limited resources, Customs targets the bad guys. Even compliant importers face delays, but if Customs already knows your company has a trade compliance program, they are more likely to work with you.

While failure to maintain a viable trade compliance program may sound funny, border delays, inspections, audits and penalties are not. Trade compliance and supply chain security is more then a fact of business life today. Our world has changed. It's here to stay. Work closely with your trade compliance team. Top down support is the critical component for a successful trade compliance program.

Labels: Customs, Export Controls

While most U.S. companies are familiar with U.S. import and export requirements, it is often difficult for U.S. companies to obtain information on the import and export requirements in other countries in which they do business.

If your company has non-U.S. operations or conducts business around the globe you are in luck because the North Texas District Export Council is holding a program entitled "Non–U.S. Trade Controls: A Deeper Dive" on May 18, 2009 in Dallas, Texas.

This program, which will feature experienced speakers on customs and export control issues from Japan, the European Union, Canada, China and other countries, will cover the following topics:

• What are the differing trade controls regimes?
• What are the differences from U.S. trade controls?
• What types of operations will subject U.S. companies and their affiliates to these controls?
• What about conflicts between U.S. trade controls and controls in these countries?

The program will also feature panels on technology transfers in a global economy and managing global trade compliance, both from an outside counsel/consultant perspective and from an in-house point of view.

The cost of the full day program is only $95, which is a bargain. For more information and to register for the conference, click here or call the North Texas Export Assistance Center at (817) 310-3744.

Labels: Customs, Export Controls

Today, January 26th, is International Customs Day, which marks the inaugural session of the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) that was held in Brussels, Belgium on January 26, 1953.

The CCC became known as the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 2004.

The theme of this year's International Customs day is "Customs and the environment: protecting our natural heritage."

The speech made by Kunio Mikuriya, WCO's new Secretary General, to mark International Customs Day can be found here.

Labels: Customs

The long-awaited interim final 10+2 rule, officially known as Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirements, will be published in tomorrow's Federal Register (PDF). While the interim final rule makes a number of changes to the rule proposed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including providing some flexibility on the filing time frame for two of the 10 importer elements (container stuffing location and consolidator), most of the other aspects included in the proposed 10+2 rule are unchanged.

The interim final rule will go into effect 60 days after publication. In order to provide the trade sufficient time to adjust to the new requirements and in consideration of the business process changes that may be necessary to achieve full compliance, CBP has stated that it will show restraint in enforcing the rule as long as importers are making satisfactory progress toward compliance and are making a good faith effort to comply with the rule to the extent of their current ability. This "flexible enforcement period" will last for 12 months after the effective date.

New Requirements

Additional Carrier Requirements (2 requirements)

In addition to the existing carrier requirements pursuant to the 24-Hour Rule, the interim final rule requires carriers to submit the following information for vessels carrying cargo containers destined to the United States.

• Vessel Stow Plan: In addition to the existing carrier requirements pursuant to the 24 Hour Rule, the interim final rule requires carriers to submit a vessel stow plan for vessels destined to the United States. Carriers must transmit the stow plan for vessels transporting containers so that CBP receives the stow plan no later than 48 hours after the carrier’s departure from the last foreign port. For voyages less than 48 hours in duration, CBP must receive the stow plan prior to the vessel’s arrival at the first port in the United States. Bulk and break bulk carriers are exempt from this requirement for vessels exclusively carrying bulk and break bulk cargo.
  

• Container Status Messages: In addition to the existing carrier requirements pursuant to the 24 Hour Rule, the interim final rule also requires carriers to submit container status messages (CSMs) to CBP daily for certain events relating to all containers laden with cargo destined to arrive within the limits of a port in the U.S. by vessel.
  

Additional Importer Requirements (10 elements)

The interim final rule requires Importer Security Filing (ISF) importers to provide the following eight data elements no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard a vessel destined to the United States:

1. Seller;
2. Buyer;
3. Importer of record number/FTZ applicant identification number;
4. Consignee number(s);
5. Manufacturer (or supplier);
6. Ship to party;
7. Country of origin; and
8. Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) number.

The ISF also needs to include two data elements that must be submitted "as early as possible," but no later than 24 hours prior to the ship's arrival at a U.S. port:

9. Container stuffing location; and
10. Consolidator (stuffer).

The rule provides that the following four elements will be subject to special filing requirements:

5. Manufacturer (or supplier);
6. Ship to party;
7. Country of origin; and
8. HTSUS number.

Importers, in their initial filing, can submit a range of acceptable responses for these four data elements based on facts available to the importer at the time, in lieu of a single specific response. Importers will be required to update their filings for these elements as soon as more precise or more accurate information is available, in no event later than 24 hours prior to arrival at a U.S. port.

CBP has published some FAQs on the new Importer Security Filing and Additional Carrier Requirement here.

Labels: Customs

Customs and trade software specialist Global Data Mining (GDM) is hosting a free webinar on November 6, 2008 to launch their new web-based customs classification and management product.

GDM's new web-based system takes customs classification and Harmonized Tariff Schedule information stored at various locations in a company and integrates it into a single portal. Among other features, the portal allows users direct access to the tariff schedules and customs rulings and allows companies to create an audit trail by including back-up documents and information on how the classification was made.

For more information and to register for GDM's webinar see the following link.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a new document containing answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding the filing of advance electronic cargo information rules for export shipments via the Automated Export System.

Some of the answers will be particularly useful to exporters and carriers, many of whom have faced a difficult time implementing the provisions of the newly issued Foreign Trade Regulations. For example, the FAQs note that:

The carrier is not responsible for verifying the information transmitted by the U.S. Principal Party In Interest in the Automated Export System. Therefore, the carrier may reasonably rely upon the information on the bill of lading, unless it has knowledge that the bill of lading information, or a part thereof, is incorrect.

In addition, the FAQs state:

The carrier will be subject to fines and penalties if it does not ensure that a shipment has the required Automated Export System proof of filing citations, exemption or exclusion legends covering all cargo. In addition, the carrier must notify the U.S. Principal Party In Interest, or their authorized agents, of any changes related to the shipment.

CBP has also indicated that its officers will verify that the Internal Transaction Number, exemption, or exclusion legend is clearly stated on export documents and provided to the carriers within the prescribed timeframes and CBP Port Directors will determine the appropriate enforcement procedures when violations are found.

Labels: AES, Customs

The Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (known as "COAC'') will hold a meeting in Seattle, Washington on August 7, 2008. The tentative agenda of the meeting is as follows:

1. World Customs Organization & Mutual Recognition Status.
2. C-TPAT Programs (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism).
3. ITDS (International Trade Data Systems Status).
4. Import Safety Initiatives.
5. Advance Trade Data ("10+2'').
6. Secure Freight Initiative.
7. Agriculture Program Update.
8. Trade Facilitation and Compliance Issues.

For information on how to attend the meeting see the following notice published in Friday's Federal Register: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-16538.htm.

Labels: CBP, Customs

In defense of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) policy regarding the search of laptop computers and digital devices possessed by travelers returning to the U.S. from abroad, CBP Deputy Commissioner Jayson Ahern posted an article on Leadership Journal, the Department of Homeland Security's blog. The post states that:

Our ability to inspect what is coming into the United States is central to keeping dangerous people and things from entering the country and harming the American people. One of our most important enforcement tools in this regard is our ability to search information contained in electronic devices, including laptops and other digital devices, for violations of U.S. law, including potential threats.

These searches have helped limit the movement of terrorists, individuals who support their activities, and other threats to national security. During border inspections of laptops, CBP officers have found violent jihadist material, information about cyanide and nuclear material, video clips of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), pictures of high-level Al-Qaeda officials, and other material associated with people seeking to do harm to our country.

The article also notes that:

It is not our intent to subject legitimate travelers to undue scrutiny, but to ensure the safety of the American public. In conducting these searches, we are fully dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all travelers. Similar to our efforts with respect to vehicles, suitcases, backpacks, hard-copy documents, and conveyances, our examinations of laptops and other digital devices are consistent with longstanding constitutional authorities at the border and have been affirmed by federal courts throughout the country, including most recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Moreover, CBP officers adhere to strict constitutional and statutory requirements, including the Trade Secrets Act, which explicitly forbids federal employees from disclosing, without lawful authority, business confidential information they may access as part of their official duties. We also protect information that may be uncovered during examination as well as private information that is not in violation of any law.

We have a responsibility to ensure that any item brought into the country complies with the law and is not a threat to the American public. To treat our inspections of digital media at the border differently from any other documents or conveyances would give terrorists and criminals an advantage they should not have and that our nation cannot afford.

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights held a hearing earlier on "Laptop Searches and Other Violations of Privacy Faced by Americans Returning from Overseas Travel." At the hearing, subcommittee chairman Russell Feingold (D-WI) expressed concern that the Department of Homeland Security did not send a witness to testify and criticized the written statement that CBP provided to the Subcommittee.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that its annual Trade Symposium will be held October 29 – 31, 2008 at the JW Marriott hotel in Washington, D.C. More details to follow.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has not yet finalized the dates of its annual Update conference, which is normally held in the fall in Washington, DC. In the meantime, potential Update attendees have until July 6, 2008 to submit their on-line "Update Interest Form" (aka the "Update Lottery") that will be used by BIS to make registration assignments through a random selection from the entire list of applicants.

Labels: BIS Update Conference, Customs

In an unusual and potentially problematic development, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of International Trade recently implemented e-Allegations, an online trade violation reporting system, that will allow individuals to anonymously report suspected violations of customs laws and regulations to CBP.

Under CBP's new e-Allegations system, individuals may report information regarding suspected violations of customs laws, such as misclassification of merchandise, false country of origin markings, health and safety issues, valuation issues and intellectual property rights, via an online form on the CBP website.

According to CBP, the e-Allegations reporting system was established to make it easier for the public to notify CBP of possible trade violations. While CBP has indicated that they will "confidentially research concerns, determine the validity of the allegations and any actions required based on the subsequent review," the system does not require the submitter to provide any identifying or contact information and it is not clear how CBP will be able to distinguish valid from invalid claims.

Labels: CBP, Customs

Two executives of the U.S. operations of Alfred L. Wolff, a German-based food ingredients company, were arrested in Chicago on Friday for allegedly conspiring to import honey from China that was falsely identified to avoid U.S. antidumping duties and containing an antibiotic not approved by the FDA.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, a confidential informant who worked for the company told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that it was common knowledge among company executives, including one of the defendants, that shipments of imported honey frequently were contaminated with antibiotics that were banned by the FDA. Documents seized pursuant to a search warrant executed at the company's Chicago offices in March allegedly included test results showing that company officials were advised that one shipment of honey was adulterated with an antibiotic, but nonetheless sold it to a company in Texas.

According to the complaint affidavit, the shipping documents accompanying the imported honey indicated that it was produced in, and exported from, Russia, which, unlike honey from China, is not subject to antidumping duties. Laboratory tests allegedly showed that several of the containers held honey produced in China.

One defendant was arrested at O’Hare International Airport just before she was to board a flight to Germany Friday night. The second defendant was arrested at the airport after dropping off the first defendant for the flight to Germany.

If convicted, the conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to a story on this arrest that appeared on the FoodNavigator.com site, Alfred L. Wolff's managing director denied the allegations and said: "These accusations are wrong and shall be rebutted and we will defend ourselves against these allegations with all legal means."

Labels: Antidumping, Customs

The National Council on International Trade Development (www.ncitd.org) has announced that its next monthly international trade compliance meeting on April 10, 2008 in Washington, DC will feature the following speakers:

Kevin Maloney
Director, Office of Defense Trade Controls Licensing
Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, U.S. Department of State

Christopher Malone
Special Agent
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Kimberly Marsho
Director, Trade Relations
Office of International Affairs and Trade Relations
U.S. Customs and Border Protection

For information on how to join NCITD or to attend the meeting, see www.ncitd.org or contact the NCITD Secretariat at 202-872-9280.

Labels: Customs, DDTC

Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI) and Ranking Member Wally Herger (R-CA) of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade today announced that the Trade Subcommittee is requesting written comments on the 806 miscellaneous tariff and duty suspension bills that have been introduced in this session of Congress.

The deadline for the submission of public comments is April 10, 2008. After the comment period, the Subcommittee will review all comments and determine which bills should be included in a miscellaneous tariff bill package. The Subcommittee will consider the extent to which the bills create a revenue loss, operate retroactively, attract controversy or are not administrable.

Public comments must be submitted to the Subcommittee in PDF format by e-mail. Click here for details on how to submit comments.

An Excel file containing a summary of the 806 miscellaneous tariff and duty suspension bills can be found here.

Labels: Congress, Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced in the Federal Register that it will extend the deadline for interested parties to submit comments on CBP's proposed change to the interpretation of the phrase "sold for exportation to the United States'' for purposes of applying the transaction value method of valuation in a series of sales importation scenario (commonly known as the "first sale" rule). The new deadline for submitting comments is April 23, 2008.

Under CBP's proposal issued on January 24, 2008, in a transaction involving a series of sales, the price actually paid or payable for the imported goods when sold for exportation to the U.S. would be changed to the price paid in the last sale occurring prior to the introduction of the goods into the U.S., instead of the first (or earlier) sale. As a result, the entered value for duty assessment purposes would be determined on the basis of the price paid by the buyer in the U.S. (the last sale), rather than the first sale.

CBP's proposal has generated a great deal of criticism by U.S. importers and retailers since this change in CBP's long-standing interpretation will increase the duties paid on U.S. imports.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today issued an overview and assessment of the operations of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program in 2007.

The year end review contained the following statistics regarding the C-TPAT program during calendar year 2007:

• Supply chain security specialist visited manufacturing and logistics facilities in 79 countries, representing some of the most terrorist prone and high risk areas of the world.
• C-TPAT validated 3,011 supply chains, representing a 27 percent increase from 2006. Of the 3,011 validations conducted, 601 or 20 percent were revalidations. This was the first year that C-TPAT began re-verifying supply chains.
• C-TPAT certified 2,601 new members in accordance with SAFE Port Act requirements.
• C-TPAT Tier III status was granted to 17 companies as a result of the validation process.
• C-TPAT suspended or removed 112 companies from the program for security breaches or failure to meet C-TPAT's minimum security criteria as revealed in the validation process. Of the 112 companies, 47 were either conditionally or fully reinstated in the C-TPAT program after they demonstrated to CBP's satisfaction that immediate and sustained corrective action had been taken.

For more information, the text of the year-end review can be found here.

Labels: C-TPAT, Customs

The World Customs Organization (WCO) is developing a database of preferential trade arrangements and related rules of origin. To assist the WCO in its development process, the WCO has prepared an online survey in order to obtain the the views of all interested parties and to ensure that the database is an effective resource for the trade community.

To take the short survey, click here.

Labels: Customs, Free Trade Agreements

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed in the Federal Register last week a major change to its method of appraising foreign goods imported into the U.S. in instances involving multiple sales transactions, commonly known as the "first sale rule".

Under U.S. law and international conventions, the method for valuing goods is based on the transaction value, or “the price actually paid or payable for merchandise when sold for exportation to the United States”. 19 U.S.C. 1401a; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Article VII (Valuation Agreement). These sources do not identify the method for determining the price actually paid in circumstances where a foreign producer sells to a foreign distributor, who then sells to a buyer in the U.S.

CBP’s longstanding practice, however, has been to use the price paid by the buyer in the first or earlier sale to compute the “transaction value” in multi-sale transactions. CBP is now proposing to change its interpretation of the term “transaction value” to the price paid in the last sale occurring before goods are imported into the U.S.

This proposal, if adopted, would modify or revoke prior administrative rulings and directives. See e.g., T.D. 96-87, vols. 30/31 Cust. B. & Dec. Nos. 52/1 (January 2, 1997). Moreover, the proposal would greatly affect transactions involving a series of sales by valuing imported products on the basis of the price paid by the U.S. importer, rather than the price paid by a foreign middleman. Under current CBP practice, for example, in a case involving multiple sales transactions, the value of foreign goods is based on the price the foreign intermediary paid for goods he purchased from a foreign producer. Under the proposed rule, if adopted, the value of imports would be based on the price the U.S. buyer paid for goods he purchased from the foreign intermediary.

CBP’s proposal comports with a recent determination of the World Customs Organization's Technical Committee on Customs Valuation (“Technical Committee”), an international body tasked with harmonizing the interpretations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) text. The Technical Committee recently assumed the task of reviewing and harmonizing the disparate interpretations of “transaction value” among various countries’ administrations. The Technical Committee concluded that the transaction price is the price paid in the last sale occurring before the goods are shipped to the country of importation, considering the fact that it is more practical to verify relevant price information for such a transaction. CBP announced the proposed change in its application of the term “transaction value” shortly after the release of the Technical Committee’s commentary.

Public comments regarding CBP’s proposal may be submitted to the Trade and Commercial Regulations Branch, Customs and Border Protection, by March 24, 2008.

Labels: Customs

This past Saturday, January 26th, was International Customs Day, which marks the inaugural session of the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) that was held in Brussels, Belgium on January 26, 1953. The CCC became known as the World Customs Organization (WCO) in 2004.

The theme of this year's International Customs day is "Combating Illicit Trafficking in Drugs and Psychotropic Substances" and in 2008 the WCO's Secretariat has scheduled a series of activities on this issue.

The speech made by the WCO's Secretary General on International Customs Day can be found here.

Labels: Customs

Today, the Interagency Import Safety Working Group presented to President Bush its Import Safety Action Plan, which contains 14 broad recommendations and 50 action steps to enhance the safety of U.S. imports.

In addition, today the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Food Protection Plan that addresses the safety of domestic and imported food products.

The Import Safety Working Group was established on July 18, 2007, to conduct a comprehensive review of the U.S. import system and identify ways to further increase the safety of imports entering the United States. The Working Group is chaired by HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and is comprised of 12 Federal departments and agencies. More information on the Import Safety Working Group and the full text of the Import Safety Action Plan issued today may be accessed at: www.importsafety.gov.

Labels: Customs, FDA

On October 16, 2007, the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an interim regulation to implement the U.S.-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement (BFTA). The interim regulations modify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS) to reflect the reduced tariff rates for certain goods imported from Bahrain.

As a result of the interim rule, “BH” now appears in the “Special” rate subcolumn throughout the HTSUS to reflect the reduced duties for individual commodities according to the negotiated terms of the BFTA. General Note 30 to the HTSUS, which sets forth the rules of origin for preferential duty purposes, was also added.

Unlike the tariff-shift rules of origin that predominate in NAFTA and many other U.S. free trade agreements, the rules of origin for the BFTA provide in large part that “originating goods” must be substantially transformed in Bahrain or the U.S. (or both), and possess at least 35% regional value content (i.e., at least 35% of the good’s appraised value must be attributed to the cost or value of materials produced in the U.S. or Bahrain, and the cost of processing performed in one or both countries). While the BFTA rules of origin include some tariff-shift based rules, these rules apply only to textiles and a limited group of certain non-textile goods.

Public comments on the interim regulations are due on December 17, 2007 and may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal via docket number USCBP-2007-0063.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a notice in today's Federal Register advising importers of the quarterly interest rates used to calculate interest on overdue accounts (underpayments) and refunds (overpayments) of customs duties.

For the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2007, the interest rates for overpayments will remain at 7% for corporations and 8% for non-corporations, and the interest rate for underpayments will remain at 8%.

CBP interest rates are tied to Federal short-term interest rates and have doubled since reaching a low of 4% during mid-2004.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection's 2007 Trade Symposium that will be held in Washington, DC from November 14-15, 2007 is sold out. Requests to be placed on the waiting list for the program can made at the following page on CBP's website: https://apps.cbp.gov/tradesymposium/?w=3.

Labels: Customs

Labels: Customs, FDA

By Laura Martino*

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in today's Federal Register that it is terminating the agency's long-standing Supplementary Information Letter (SIL) program for making post-entry amendment to customs entries on September 20, 2007. After that date, importers or customs brokers seeking to amend entry summaries prior to liquidation must do so by submitting a Post-Entry Amendment (PEA) to CBP.

In addition to extending the PEA test procedure until August 21, 2008 (the "test" procedure was originally announced in late 2000 and has been extended on several occasions), CBP has made other changes to the PEA process. Effective immediately, an importer or broker filing a single PEA must submit the PEA at least 20 days prior to the scheduled liquidation date of each entry summary covered in the PEA letter (liquidation normally occurs 314 days after the entry date). Single PEAs submitted untimely will be rejected by CBP. Previously, PEAs were required to be filed promptly after discovery of the error and prior to liquidation of the one or more entry summaries covered in the PEA.

As with SILs, PEAs allows importers to continue to make amendments to already filed entry summaries prior to liquidation. However, unlike SILs, PEAs allows importers to submit to CBP a quarterly report covering the errors that occurred during the calendar quarter.

CBP anticipates that eliminating the SIL program will reduce the paperwork burden for both importers and the agency. In addition, CBP believes that the new filing deadline for single PEAs will provide the agency with the time it needs to review underpayments and overpayments of duties, taxes and fees and statistical errors prior to liquidation.

* Laura Martino is an international trade attorney in Strasburger & Price's Washington, DC office.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) will meet on August 16, 2007 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC. The tentative agenda of the meeting, which is open to the public, includes:

1. International Container Security Standards.
2. Post-Incident Business Resumption.
3. Advance Data Elements.
4. Secure Freight Initiative/Supply Chain Security.
5. Office of International Trade.
6. Intellectual Property Rights.
7. ACE Program

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today published a final rule in the Federal Register modifying section 173.3 of the Customs Regulations (19 CFR 173.3) to permit CBP to voluntarily reliquidate entries that have been "deemed liquidated" by operation of law. Entries that may be "deemed liquidated" by operation of law include countervailing duty, antidumping or drawback entries.

Labels: Customs

In response to the recent concerns over the safety of imports from China, on July 18, 2007 President Bush issued Executive Order 13439 establishing an interagency Working Group on Import Safety. The Working Group will be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Working Group's mission is "to identify actions and appropriate steps that can be pursued, within existing resources, to promote the safety of imported products", including the following:

• Reviewing or assessing current procedures and methods aimed at ensuring the safety of products exported to the United States, including reviewing existing cooperation with foreign governments, foreign manufacturers, and others in the exporting country's private sector regarding their inspection and certification of exported goods and factories producing exported goods and considering whether additional initiatives should be undertaken with respect to exporting countries or companies;

• Identifying potential means to promote all appropriate steps by U.S. importers to enhance the safety of imported products, including identifying best practices by U.S. importers in selection of foreign manufacturers, inspecting manufacturing facilities, inspecting goods produced on their behalf either before export or before distribution in the United States, identifying origin of products, and safeguarding the supply chain; and

• Surveying authorities and practices of Federal, State, and local government agencies regarding the safety of imports to identify best practices and enhance coordination among agencies.

The Executive Order requires the Working Group to provide recommendations to the President within 60 days.

Labels: Customs

On Saturday, President Bush signed a bill (H.R. 1830) to extend the the Andean Trade Preference program, which was scheduled to expire on June 30th, to February 29, 2008. As a result, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced today that the Automated Commercial System (ACS) has been programmed to accept Andean Trade Preference claims through the special program indicators "J" and "J+".

The Andean Trade Preference Act was enacted in 1991 to combat drug production and trafficking in the Andean countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. ATPA, which was expanded under the Trade Act of 2002 and is now called the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act, provides duty-free access to U.S. markets for approximately 5,600 products.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today announced the names of the companies that have been selected to serve as third party validators in the Third Party Validation Pilot Program for purposes of conducting supply chain validations under the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) in China. This one-year pilot program was necessary since the Chinese government has denied CBP’s request to allow CBP employees from performing validations in China. This program marks the first time that C-TPAT supply chain validations will be performed by commercial entities.

The following companies have been chosen by CBP to perform validations on CBP selected C-TPAT participants with operations in China:

• ABS Group
  
• CSCC/STR
  
• Cotecna
• Det Norske
• Veritas
  
• Intertek
• Omega Compliance
• Pinkerton
  
• Sharp Global
  
• SGS North America
• TUV Rheinland
  

CBP will notify eligible C-TPAT participants in writing of their selection to participate in the third party validation pilot program. The C-TPAT participant will be required to select one of the third party entities within 30 days to initiate the validation process. Both the third party firm and the C-TPAT participant will be required to sign a conflict of interest form prior to the initiation of any contract and the start of the validation.

It is anticipated that the C-TPAT participants will be expected to pay for the services of the third party validators.

Labels: C-TPAT, China, Customs

A reader has provided me with a link to a commercial website containing a unique and interactive ACE e-Manifest Port Guide and Map. The site shows the current and future status of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) ACE e-Manifest deployment and enforcement status for U.S. land border ports.

CBP's e-Manifest system requires motor carriers to provide advance electronic cargo information to CBP one hour (thirty minutes for FAST carriers) prior to the arrival of the conveyance in the first U.S. port of arrival.

Labels: ACE, Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has recently posted on its website a number of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program. The FAQs include some basic information on the "benefits" of participation in C-TPAT for importers and carriers.

Labels: C-TPAT, Customs

Last week U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) finally mailed the results of the April 2, 2007 Customs Broker License Exam to those that took the test.

As previously reported, CBP announced in early May that the exam results would be delayed "due to extenuating circumstances". CBP never disclosed the reason for the delay.

Congratulations to all those that passed the April 2007 Customs Broker License Exam.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has finally released the answer key to the April 2, 2007 Customs Brokers License Examination. Those that took the exam should receive their scores in the mail next week.

The exam and answer key can be found at the following links on the CBP website:

• April 2007 Brokers Exam
• April 2007 Answer Key

The answer key notes that one question has more than one correct answer. Anyone that took the examination and did not achieve a passing score can appeal the answers to questions. Any appeals must be submitted to CBP within 60 days of the date of the letter notifying the applicant of his or her score.

As we previously reported, CBP announced in May that the because of "extenuating circumstances" the exam would be scored by May 15th and the test results would be sent shortly thereafter.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has published the minutes of the May 15, 2007 meeting of the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC). The highlights of the meeting included:

• CBP continues to move forward with the Security Filing initiative, also known “10+2”. CBP's Office of Regulations and Rulings has completed its initial work on developing the draft Notice of Proposed Rule Making and CBP is reviewing that document internally. CBP does not yet know when the formal notice will be published in the Federal Register.

• With respect to C-TPAT, CBP reported that currently there are 7,031 certified members and all new applicants are being reviewed within 90 days, as required by SAFE Port Act. CBP has completed 4,200 validations and anticipates completing the 3,000 remaining validations by the end of the year. [This does not include the approximately 300 importers who source 75% or greater from China. These 300 importers are currently confined to C-TPAT Tier 1 and receiving minimum level of benefits since the Chinese government has denied CBP’s request to allow U.S. CBP specialists from performing validations in China.]
  

• CBP is working with the COAC supply chain security subcommittee on a proposal to utilize C-TPAT third party validators. An announcement of the best-qualified validator firms is expected soon.

• The COAC provided comments that were highly critical of the draft version of the Department of Homeland Security's “Strategy to Enhance International Supply Chain Security”, which is required by Sections 201 and 202 of the SAFE Port Act. Specifically, the COAC comments stated that "we do not believe the plan is actionable. A good plan should provide a clear set of instructions that are specific as to roles, responsibilities and actions to be taken. It should be a blue print that can be referred to in both planning and execution. The plan as written is general and very high level in describing roles and responsibilities. Until the detail is populated, we do not believe the plan is useful." The COAC's comments in Word format can be found at the following link.

• CBP is developing C-TPAT criteria for Mexican Long-Haulers and reviewing Third Party Logistics Providers minimum-security criteria.

• CBP has created the Unified Business Resumption Message (UBRM) service in order to advise the trade community in the U.S and Canada in the event of an incident that affects the flow of trade. Interested persons can subscribe to the UBRM via a RSS feed on the CBP website. [Note, the easiest way to subscribe to a RSS feed is via a news reader, such as Google Reader.]
  

• The next COAC meeting will be held in Washington, DC on August 16, 2007.

Labels: C-TPAT, Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a report that details the compliance rates for the filing of mandatory ACE e-Manifest reports at U.S. land border ports. The report also includes information on the number of trucks processed at ACE ports, the percentage of e-Manifests filed and the overall e-Manifest/Trade Act compliance percentage for each port.

The most recent version of the report, which is in Excel format, can be found at the following link:
www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/e-manifests_info/ace_deploy_rpt.ctt/ace_deploy_rpt.xls

Labels: ACE, Customs

The results of April's Customs Broker's License Examination have not been released due to "extenuating circumstances" and there are a number of rumors circulating regarding the reason for the delay. The rumors include that the answer key was released prior to the exam and that one of the ports lost the exams. Stay tuned . . .

The Customs Broker exam consists of 80 multiple-choice questions. A passing grade is 75 percent. The exam has a notoriously low pass rate.

Labels: Customs

Importers and Customs Brokers should note that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following administrative message via the Automated Broker Interface system:

TITLE: ABI-ACS ENHANCEMENTS

EFFECTIVE MAY 30, 2007, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION. (CBP) IMPLEMENTED UPDATED ENHANCEMENTS TO THEIR INTERNAL. [Sic] DATA SYSTEM THAT MAY CAUSE AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF INTENSIVE EXAMINATIONS OF IDENTIFIED "HIGH RISK" SHIPMENTS.

CONCURRENTLY, THE REFERENCED ENHANCEMENTS SHOULD RESOLVE ISSUES INVOLVING PERMIT TO TRANSFERS (PTT) AND CONSOLIDATED SHIPMENTS MOVING IN-BOND UNDER ONE (1) MASTER BILL OF LADING (MBL). WITH THE NEW FUNCTIONALITY, RISK ASSESSMENTS WILL BE CONDUCTED ON INDIVIDUAL SHIPMENTS RATHER THAN BEING LINKED TO OTHER SHIPMENTS UNDER THE MASTER BILL OF LADING.

FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS ARE CONTEMPLATED. WHEN CHANGES TAKE PLACE, CBP WILL UPDATE THE TRADE COMMUNITY IN A TIMELY MANNER.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL CBP PORT OFFICE, IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that Jayson P. Ahern, who currently serves as Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, will become CBP's Deputy Commissioner when current Deputy Commissioner Deborah Spero retires in August.

Labels: Customs

As we reported last week, the results of April's Customs Broker's exam, were supposed to have been released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on May 15th. However, as of today those taking the exam still have not received their scores and there has been no further word from CBP on when the exam results are expected.

Labels: Customs

Results of the April 2nd Customs Broker Exam have still not been released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP recently announced that the because of "extenuating circumstances" the exam would be scored by May 15th and the test results would be sent shortly thereafter. However, as of today the final answers have not yet been finalized. Apparently, CBP wants to make sure that the answer key is absolutely correct in order to minimize the number of appeals/protests that are filed. Meanwhile, those that took the exam anxiously await to receive their results.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in today's Federal Register a notice revising the Terms and Conditions for access to and use of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal). The principal changes to the terms and conditions include:

• A revised definition of "Account Owner'' to permit either an individual or a legal entity to serve in this capacity.
• New requirements relating to providing notice to CBP when there has been a material change in the status of the Account and/or Account Owner.
• Explanatory provisions as to how the information from a particular account may be accessed through the ACE Portal when that account is transferred to a new owner.

Current ACE Portal account holders with a Terms and Conditions document already on file with CBP will not be required to change the designation of its account owners unless the account would prefer to designate a new account owner.

The Terms and Conditions set forth in todays Federal Register notice will appear on the introductory screen for the ACE Portal. Any party seeking access to the ACE Portal will be required to accept those Terms and Conditions as set forth on the screen.

Labels: ACE, Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the results of the April 2, 2007 customs broker exam have been delayed. The complete text of the announcement read as follows:

Results of the April 2007 Customs Broker Exam - This is to notify all individuals who took the April 2, 2007 Customs Broker License Exam that due to extenuating circumstances the exams have not been scored to date. It is anticipated that the exam will be scored by May 15, 2007. Once the results are received by CBP, the notification process will be expedited.

While the questions from the April exam have been posted on CBP's website, the answer key has not yet been released.

Labels: Customs

On May 1, 2007, the European Union will impose 15% duties on 32 additional U.S. products as a result of the U.S. failure to repeal the Byrd Amendment as required by the WTO. The products subject to the increased duty include several types of paper products, plastic furniture, a wide range of textile products, ball-point pens, footwear and mobile homes.

The new duties will increase the value of U.S. products subject to E.U. retaliation from US$ 36.91 million to US$ 81.19 million.

Although the Byrd Amendment was repealed by the U.S. Congress in early 2006, the repeal did not affect distribution of antidumping and countervailing duties collected on imports made before October 1, 2007. Because of the manner in which the U.S. levies antidumping and countervailing duties the Congressional Budget Office estimates that Byrd Amendment payments may continue until 2009.

The list of the 32 products subject to the increased duties can be found here (pdf).

Labels: Customs

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in Monday's Federal Register announcing that the name of the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection has been formally changed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In addition, the name of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been officially changed to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Labels: Customs

As part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) national roll out of the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Truck Manifest system (e-Manifest), CBP today published a final rule in the Federal Register advising that trucks entering the U.S. through land border ports of entry in the states of Vermont and New Hampshire and at the North Dakota ports of St. John, Fortuna, Ambrose, Carbury, Noonan, Dunseith, Sherwood, Antler, Northgate, Westhope and Portal will be required to transmit the advance information through the ACE Truck Manifest system starting on July 12, 2007.

The ACE e-Manifest system requires carriers to submit electronic manifest submissions and have them accepted by CBP one hour in advance (for non-FAST shipments) and 30 minutes in advance (for FAST shipments) of a truck's arrival at the U.S. port of entry.

CBP recently announced that it is delay the enforced compliance of mandatory electronic manifest filing at Washington, Arizona and certain North Dakota land border ports until April 26, 2007 due to ongoing efforts to correct communication problems within ACE. The final phase of enforcement, in which CBP will deny a permit to proceed into the United States anytime a truck arrives without successfully submitting an e-Manifest, will begin no earlier than
May 26, 2007.

Labels: Customs

Good luck to all of those (including several clients) that are taking the Customs Brokers Exam on Monday, April 2nd. In an unusual twist, CBP announced that "due to the extraordinary circumstances regarding the availability and distribution of the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), CBP is providing exam applicants with a listing of the chapters from the HTS that will be used in the April 2007 Brokers Exam." CBP announced that only the following chapters of the HTS will be covered on the April exam: 25, 33, 39, 44, 48, 49, 52, 61, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 73, 83, 84, 85, 87, 90, 94, 96, 97, 98 and 99.

Labels: Customs

SUMMARY OF NEW FEE RATES

CUSTOMS DUTIES	Old Fee Rates Prior to April 1, 2007 (Unit Fee/Annual Cap)	New Fee Rates On/After April 1, 2007 (Unit Fee/Annual Cap)
Commercial Vessels	$397.00/$5,955	$437.00/$5,955
Commercial Trucks	$5.00/$100.00	$5.50/$100.00
Railroad Cars	$7.50/$100.00	$8.25/$100.00
Private Aircraft (Decal)	$25.00	$27.50
Private Vessel (Decal)	$25.00	$27.50
Commercial Aircraft Passenger (User Fee)	$5.00	$5.50
Commercial Vessel Passenger (User Fee-Non Exempt)	$5.00	$5.50
Commercial Vessel Passenger	$1.75	$1.93
Dutiable Mail	$5.00	$5.50
Broker Permit	$125.00	$138.00
Barges and other bulk carriers	$100.00/$1,500	$110.00/$1,500

Labels: Customs

Have you ever want to work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Now's your chance as CBP is recruiting holding a major recruiting event for nearly 500 entry level, mid-career and supervisors/managers. The event will be held at the Reagan Building in Washington, DC on April 20-21, 2007. Click here for more information.

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has posted on its website a page entitled"Questions and Answers Regarding the Conversion to the 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States with WCO Updates". Many of the answers shed new light on the transition to the new Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. that will go into effect on February 3, 2007.

For example, CBP explains that the "grace period" for implementing the new version of the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule will work as follows:

Q: How does the “Grace Period” work, does it mean that both 2006 and 2007 data will be available simultaneously - or just that the filers have an extra 17 days to respond?

A: The “Grace Period” applies to classification errors related to tariff classification made by the WCO. These could be either the late filing of a rejected entry for correction or a post entry correction for entries filed during the “Grace Period” that were later found to have classification errors.

ACS will only have "active" HTS numbers available in the reference files for processing entry/entry summary transmissions. For example, if a HTS declared on the transmission of an entry summary on February 10, 2007 is for an HTS that expired on February 2, 2007, the transmission will be rejected by ABI/ACS back to the filer without acceptance. Therefore, the Trade MUST utilize an active HTS number at the time of transmission.

If upon subsequent review of the entry summary by the Import or Entry Specialist CBP determines that the HTS successfully used on the February 10th ABI transmission is not the correct HTS and consequently issues either a penalty or formally rejects the entry summary package, this situation may be mitigated/resolved by using this “Grace Period”. This may also be the case if these same errors are discovered during an audit.

In addition, the Q&As discuss the effect of the HTS changes on NAFTA blanket Certificates of Origin (COs) for good imported in to the U.S. CBP explains that NAFTA Blanket COs will be handled as follows:

The NAFTA product specific rules are being amended to reflect the 2007 HTS. However, they are not likely to be implemented on February 3, 2007 with 2007 HTS. However, because the amended rules do not include any substantive, but are merely re-stated using HS 2007 nomenclature, COs completed using the 2006 rules of origin will be valid for 2007. COs completed prior to implementation will need to continue to reference the 2006 HTS numbers because the product specific rules are directly related to those HTS numbers.

To avoid confusion, it may be helpful for exporters to include both the old and new HTS on the CO. Once the new rules are issued, CBP may request that an amended CO be presented if there is no reference to the 2007 HTS number.

Please keep in mind that this only pertains to importations into the US and not procedures for importing into Mexico and Canada.

Finally, CBP states that importers should have completed all internal classification updates by February 20, 2007. However, CBP advises that if importers experience difficulties in completing their internal classification updates in a timely manner they should work with CBP through their assigned Account Manager.

The 2007 version of the HTSUS that will go into effect on February 3, 2007 can be found at the following link: www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm.

Labels: Customs, HTS

The United States Trade Representative has announced in the January 22, 2007 Federal Register that Bulgaria and Romania are no longer eligible for Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits due to their accession to the European Union on January 1, 2007.

Labels: Customs, GSP

The AP reports today that Japan Customs intends to increase penalties for filing false customs declarations involving transactions with North Korea. The article states:

The new laws would give prison terms of up to a year to people refusing to have their cargo inspected by Japanese customs officials and provide prison time for ship captains or airplane pilots who make false customs declarations . . .

The revisions would also include a fivefold hike in the maximum prison term and fines for exporters who file false customs forms.

Under current law, captains and pilots are only punishable by fines up to $4,160 for false cargo claims, while exporters are subject to prison terms of one year or maximum fines of $8,300 . . .

Labels: Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that it intends to beef up its staff by hiring more than 25,000 CBP Officers around the country. CBP has published a series of Frequently Asked Questions on becoming a CBP officer at the following link.

Labels: Customs

To facilitate the need for an easier transition to the World Customs Organization (WCO) 2007 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. (HTSUS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a 17 day grace period to U.S. importers to assist in the HTSUS conversion.

The 17 day grace period, which will begin on February 3, 2007 and ends on the close of business on February 20, 2007, pertains to:

• Entries rejected by an Import Specialist or Entry Specialist either manually or electronically by RLF and returned to the filers for classification correction; and
• Post-entry classification corrections.

CBP expects internal classification related updates will be completedall customs brokers to have their ABI software updates to be installed and ready for use on February 3, 2007 and expects importers to have all of their internal classifications to be finalized on February 20, 2007.

The 2007 version of the HTSUS that will go into effect on February 3, 2007 can be found at the following link: www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm.

Labels: Customs, HTS

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that it will hold a C-TPAT Supply Chain Security Training Seminar from April 3-7, 2007 in New Orleans. The program is open to certified C-TPAT members only.

According to CBP, the program will include joint Customs/Trade presentations, panel discussions and concurrent workshops on a number of supply chain security topics.

Registration will be conducted via an on-line registration process beginning January 15, 2007. Click the following link for more details on the program.

Labels: C-TPAT, Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that the next Customs Broker License Examination will be held on Monday, April 2, 2007. The deadline for submitting exam applications to CBP is March 2, 2007. For further details on the Customs Broker License Examination, including a copy of the application form and previous exams, see the following link.

Labels: Customs

By a vote of 299 - 128, the U.S. House of Representative tonight passed H.R. 1, legislation that includes a number of measures to implement the 9/11 commission. The bill contains a number of trade security measures. For example, section 406 of the bill would require the Department of Homeland Security to establish a "system to inspect 100 percent of cargo transported on passenger aircraft operated by an air carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intrastate air transportation to ensure the security of all such passenger aircraft carrying cargo" within three years from the date of enactment. Section 501 would require impose the following requirements on the entry of containers into the U.S.:

• The container must be scanned with equipment that uses the best-available technology, including technology to scan a container for radiation and density and, if appropriate, for atomic elements"; and
  

• The container must be secured with a seal that uses the "best-available technology, including technology to detect any breach into a container and identify the time of such breach."

The container screening provision would be phased in over a five year period, although the screening of containers from large countries (those with 75,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of containers in 2005) would be required in three years.

H.R. 1 was sent to Senate, where it was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. It is unclear when the Senate will consider this bill. However, many Senators have expressed doubts about the cost and feasibility of several provisions in the House bill and a proposal to screen all inbound containers was defeated in the Senate in 2006.

The complete text of H.R. 1 can be found here.

Labels: Cargo Security, Customs