Monday Morning eBriefing

Just days before the implementation date, the NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) held its final APHIS ACE webinar (see recording here) with an hour-long Q&A session with the APHIS ACE Team. Panel hosts Mike Lahar, of A.N. Deringer and RAC Chair, and Stuart Schmidt, of UPS Supply Chain Solutions and RAC Subcommittee Chair, urged customs brokers to use the vast array of resources that APHIS has assembled on its website (and which can be accessed from the NCBFAA APHIS Toolkit at ncbfaa.org).

The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) on March 1 issued a decision with important ramifications for any company that uses "first sale" to reduce customs duty liability for goods imported into the United States. The CIT's ruling in Meyer Corp., U.S. v. United States calls into question the continued viability of first sale for suppliers located in non-market economies.

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

During the Drawback Working Group meeting in November, CBP discussed the fact that the regulations for duty drawback would undergo some minor changes with the transition from NAFTA to USMCA. With that, the USMCA regulations will fall in 19 C.F.R. 182, and, like most other regulatory language, some tweaks will be necessary to Subpart E from 19 C.F.R. 181 to ensure that the most current language is used to harmonize this new set of regulations with what is already outlined for TFTEA in 19 C.F.R. 190.

Customs and Border Protection is expected to publish in the Federal Register its interim final rule mandating advance electronic information for international mail shipments on March 15.

NCBFAA on March 10 will host an hour-long webinar (3-4 p.m. ET) during which members can ask questions about the APHIS-Core program of key APHIS Team leaders and experts.

COVID-19 during this past year has impacted the availability of commercial credit, canceled or reduced buyer credit insurance, and increased the need for extended payment terms for many small exporters due to the uncertain economic environment.

Customs and Border Protection, (CBP) has released an updated ACE Development and Deployment Schedule on its website on March 1.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) on March 3 held a webinar, "Electronic Filer 101 Training," aimed at customs brokers who handle fresh fruits and vegetables subject to the AMS Section 8e marketing orders.

TQL Global, LLC, subsidiary of Total Quality Logistics, the 2nd largest 3PL in the US, is looking for an outside consultant to assist with Ocean Transportation Intermediary operations. If you have any interest in connecting please reach out to patrick.behan@tqlglobal.com.

NCBFAA members can expect Capitol Hill lawmakers and the Biden Administration to be preoccupied this year with delivering on legislation that supports transportation infrastructure development within the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on March 4 said new validation will be added to the processing of the Standard Truck Manifest X.12 transaction set 353 (Events Advisory) and EDIFACT CUSREP (Events Reporting) messages used by the trade to report an in-bond export to the agency.

A congressional watchdog agency asked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in a recent report to do a better job conveying details regarding its import investigations and enforcement actions related to forced labor to other federal agencies involved in trade.

The FDA launched a pilot program on the process for handling Notices of Refusal. The goal of the pilot is to develop more uniform processes for receiving Notices of Refusal and timely communication between CBP, FDA and the Importer/Broker.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative on March 1 delivered President Biden's 2021 Trade Agenda and 2020 Annual Report to Congress, outlining a comprehensive trade policy in support of the new administration's effort to help the U.S. economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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:

Members of the World Customs Organization's Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) have recently submitted a paper to the WCO secretary general outlining its views on the AEO Implementation and Validation Guidance.

NCBFAA submitted comments in response to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Sept. 23, 2020 Federal Register notice (85 FR 59984) proposing to establish additional traceability recordkeeping requirements for persons that manufacture, process, pack, or hold certain foods that the Agency has designated for inclusion on the Food Traceability List.

Due to current port congestion, ocean carriers are issuing split bills on or after arrival. To streamline the updated information for release, the LACBFFA, in collaboration with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Los Angeles, has reviewed the processing of split bills.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) remaindered importers and customs brokers that the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) Identifier Format Change will be deployed to the Production Environment (PROD) on April 24.