Monday Morning eBriefing

Sens. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced legislation to strengthen import requirements for the importation of live dogs. The Healthy Dog Importation Act addresses current gaps in oversight which have raised concerns among animal health groups, agricultural associations and public health organizations.

We reported on this in the Aug. 2 Monday Morning eBriefing, but it bears repeating that on Sept. 4, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will implement a hard reject of food entries that have an invalid syntax for the FSV email transmitted in PG21. There will be no period of warnings.

In Headquarters Ruling Letter H297978, issued July 16, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) responded to the NCBFAA's inquiry regarding the validity of an electronically signed customs brokers power of attorney (POA) for CBP purposes.

After approximately 20 years in the District of Columbia, NCBFAA has moved to a new headquarters office in close-by Silver Spring, Maryland.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine announced that its new APHIS eFile can now be used to obtain permits for cut flowers, greenery, and sugarcane products.

The FDA reports they are receiving a high volume of entry lines with an invalid syntax for the email transmitted in PG21 for the FSV entity. As a result, beginning September 4, the agency will deploy validation to check the syntax of FSV email addresses. To avoid rejects, the FDA reminds brokers to:

U.S. supply chain problems of various iterations continue to upset daily operations of customs brokers, freight forwarders, and NVOCCs, and their importer and exporter customers.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Rebecca Dye announced eight interim recommendations the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) can take to address ongoing port and supply chain congestion across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with many large trade associations, the NCBFAA maintains outside counsel positions for guidance and to provide the membership with the highest quality of service available. To that end, we currently contract with two legal counsels, covering general association operations and customs and transportation matters, as well as legislative representative.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), on Thursday, July 29, introduced H.R. 4816, the Customs Business Fairness Act (CBFA) of 2021. Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) have also joined Rep. Garbarino as original co-sponsors of the bill.

Commerce Department regulations for the Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System require that the License/Permit Code (LPC)=01 Steel license or the LPC=28 Aluminum license be included on the admission into the foreign trade zone (FTZ), and not on the withdrawal entry summary from the FTZ.

NCBFAA encourages the trade community to support the USMCA rulemaking expanding streamlined tariff shift rules in place of case by substantial transformation test for origin determinations by Aug. 5.

e Craft Beverage Modernization Act (CBMA) provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 reduced excise taxes on all beverage alcohol producers, large and small, foreign and domestic. In 2020, Congress made CBMA's tax cuts permanent. It also transferred responsibility for administering certain CBMA provisions for imported alcohol from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to the Treasury Department after Dec. 31, 2022.

While many Americans look forward to some semblance of a summer vacation during the ongoing battle against COVID, the supply chain woes in Chicago are not taking any breaks and continue to curtail the flow of valuable containerized import cargo from the West Coast ports.

During the first panel of Customs and Border Protection's Virtual Trade Week (July 20), "Aligning Customs and Trade for the 21st Century," NCBFAA Customs Counsel Lenny Feldman addressed the key question, "Are we transforming trade or is trade transforming us?"

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials during the agency's Virtual Trade Week (July 20-22) announced changes that they will propose to the Entry Type 86.

On PGA Day, July 16, in Washington, the NCBFAA Board and Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) members learned details of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Two-way Messaging system from International Trade Specialist John Blachere.

Kelli Giannattasio, acting deputy director for import operations at FDA, told NCBFAA Board and Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) members on July 16 that the agency expects more changes in the food system over the next 10 years than ever before.

On April 29, a group of 17 students from United South High School in Laredo, Texas, passed the NEI's Certified Customs Specialist (CCS) exam offered through the Academy of Global Business and Advanced Technology at Laredo College.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has established a new audit program and dedicated audit team to assess carrier compliance with the agency's rule on detention and demurrage, as well as to provide additional information beneficial to the regular monitoring of the marketplace for ocean cargo services.