Monday Morning eBriefing

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome the following members who have recently joined our association:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced the selection of 15 stakeholders to participate in its Reimbursable Services Program (RSP), as provided for under Section 481 of the 2002 Homeland Security Act.

The U.S., along G7 members from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the U.K. as well as the European Union, announced on March 11 it will take steps to revoke Russia’s Most-Favored-Nation status in solidarity against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We need each of our members to continue reaching out to their Congressional Members on Capitol Hill to let them know just how important Customs Business Fairness Act (CBFA) (H.R. 4186) is to our industry.

With the recent announcement that the U.S. will revoke Russia’s Most Favored Nation Duty Status, NCBFAA urges its members to monitor Customs and Border Protection’s CSMS and other trade-facing announcements as to when goods originating from Russia for U.S. consumption will be subject to exponentially higher column two duty rates. While such tariff rate changes typically track the date of entry for consumption or withdrawal from warehouse, it is possible that they may track the date of export from Russia, in this latter case where goods already exported, but not yet entered, may not carry the higher duty rates.

The NCBFAA Export Compliance Subcommittee has previously reported that all the HTS and Schedule B codes in 15 CFR 746 Supplement #4 now require licenses. We have since received further clarification from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) which advises that only the products covered by the product descriptions on the chart need licenses. The agency’s intention was not to include all products that could fall into the HTS or Schedule B categories. BIS advises that this clarification will be included in forthcoming FAQs

Here is a summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable:

NCBFAA’s agenda for its 49th Annual Conference in Tucson, Arizona, on May 1-4, promises to enlighten and educate our members on the most important regulatory and legislative topics impacting their businesses today!

President Biden announced March 1, as well as highlighted during his State of the Union, that his administration will take a multiprong regulatory and legislative action aimed at lowering consumer prices and leveling the playing field in ocean container shipping.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on March 3 released three draft EDI implementation guide updates for ACE Import Ocean Manifest House Bill Release functionality.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have continued to postpone their “Container Dwell Fee,” and said they will reconsider its possible imposition on March 11.

President Biden announced March 1, as well as highlighted during his State of the Union, that his administration will take a multiprong regulatory and legislative action aimed at lowering consumer prices and leveling the playing field in ocean container shipping.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome the following members who have recently joined our association:

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule to add new export license requirements and review policies for Belarus to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in response to that country’s enabling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It may still be cold outside, but let’s not put our momentum to make the Customs Business Fairness Act (CBFA) (H.R. 4186) permanent on ice. We need each of our members to continue reaching out to their Congressional Members on Capitol Hill to let them know just how important this legislation is to our industry.

The NCBFAA Transportation Committee’s Logistics Subcommittee is regularly collecting data on the nation’s rail delays and port congestion that are impacting the supply chain and your business operations.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on March 3 released three draft EDI implementation guide updates for ACE Import Ocean Manifest House Bill Release functionality.

NCBFAA, along with 45 other trade associations, sent a letter March 3 to Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Daniel Maffei requesting a 30-day extension to submit comments on the agency’s Feb. 15 advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding demurrage and detention billing practices.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued a final rule to add new export license requirements and review policies for Belarus to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) in response to that country’s enabling of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in lockstep with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), FBI, and the National Security Agency (NSA), is urging U.S. infrastructure operators and air transport providers to protect themselves against the possible increase in cyberattacks. Russian state-sponsored actors have “demonstrated a capability to maintain persistent, long-term access in compromised enterprise and cloud environments,” CISA said. The U.S. government warns that these attacks may escalate in the weeks ahead as the U.S. and other western countries continue protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine by imposing severe economic sanctions against Russia’s political and business leaders. Here is what CISA recommends: Be prepared. Confirm reporting processes and minimize personnel gaps in IT/OT security coverage. Create, maintain, and exercise a cyber incident response plan, resilience plan, and continuity of operations plan so that critical functions and operations can be kept running if technology systems are disrupted or need to be taken offline. Enhance your organization’s cyber posture. Follow best practices for identity and access management, protective controls and architecture, and vulnerability and configuration management. Increase organizational vigilance. Stay current on reporting on this threat. Subscribe to CISA’s mailing list and feeds to receive notifications when CISA releases information about a security topic or threat. CISA, the FBI, and NSA encourage critical infrastructure organization leaders to review CISA Insights: Preparing for and Mitigating Cyber Threats for information on reducing cyber threats to their organizations. DHS also urges Indirect Air Carriers (IACs) and Certified Cargo Screening Facilities (CCSFs) to review this information circular.