Monday Morning eBriefing

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week began implementing its Artificial Intelligence (AI) imported seafood pilot, which will use AI and machine learning, along with its current PREDICT system, to screen imported seafood shipments

The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has recently published its 2020 annual report.

Alejandro Mayorkas on Feb. 2 was sworn in as homeland security secretary.

Third country antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) case numbers allow importers to enter merchandise that have a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) country of origin that differ from the country of the AD/CVD order.

Despite the slowdown in trade due to the coronavirus pandemic, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in its annual Trade and Travel Report that it processed more than 32.8 million import entries with a value of $2.4 trillion during fiscal year 2020.

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) notified the trade (CSMS #4604469) that the agency will begin mandatory ACE filing of FWS-regulated products in June 2021, rather than in March as previously planned.

Before those flowers are given to loved ones this Valentine's Day, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists will have a hand in ensuring that they are free of bugs and other unwelcomed pests.

It's that time of the year-Chinese New Year. During this holiday, China's factories generally close for two weeks. This year, the holiday will occur Feb. 12-26.

Demurrage and detention charges are designed as a tool by ocean carriers and marine terminal operators to encourage shippers and NVOCCs to utilize and return container equipment in a timely manner.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has advised the trade of the addition of three new Protest Issues in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Protest Module.

As a Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Importer and FSVP Agent, United Safety Agents works closely with its customs brokerage and freight forwarding partners to ensure that their clients comply with FSVP, are represented by an experienced FSVP Agent, and successfully clear the FSVP-portion of U.S. Customs entry. The firm acts as the FSVP Agent for a large and diverse set of food, beverage, and dietary supplement manufacturers, exporters, and non-resident importers. United Safety Agents' FSVP services complement those typically offered by NCBFAA's member companies, without overlap. In most cases FSVP Agent representation can be established in as little as 24-hours. Visit United Safety Agents website to learn more about FSVP, its implications for your clients, and the ways in which FSVP Agency can complement and streamline your service offerings and operation.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico on a countrywide import alert to help stop products that appear to be in violation from entering the U.S. until the agency is able to review the products' safety.

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:

In response to the White House Chief of Staff's memorandum concerning "Regulatory Freeze Pending Review" issued on Jan. 20, the Commerce Department has delayed the effective date of the final rule, "Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System," from Jan. 25 to March 29.

Implementation of APHIS-Core ACE filing officially began Jan. 25. All customs brokers should now be filing, or at least attempting to file, the APHIS Message Set or a valid disclaim for products classified in a flagged HTS.

The NCBFAA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection hosted a webinar on Jan. 5 to instruct customs brokers on filing their triennial status reports and payments in the eCBP portal.

The Biden administration on Jan. 20 issued an order to withdraw any rules that were issued by federal agencies to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) prior to Jan. 20. It also revoked Executive Order 13771, Reducing Regulation and Controlling Costs and Executive Order 13777, Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that implementation of ACE filing for APHIS-Core will begin Jan. 25, requiring filers to submit a message set for regulated products.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requests that customs broker notifications and requested documents previously mailed to CBP Headquarters be sent directly to the Broker Management Branch inbox, brokermanagement@cbp.dhs.gov, to ensure timely receipt and action.

Staying compliant with Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulations in the current environment of ocean shipping can be quite challenging. Ocean carrier costs are subject to daily, if not hourly changes in Asia, as our agents or offices in this market fight to get bookings on available ships.