Monday Morning eBriefing

In our communications with CBP about several questions that we have posed about the Inbond Final Rule we have been told that the requirement for supplying the HTS number on the inbond transmission postponed and will not be required on the effective date of November 27, 2017. CBP will be issuing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to the Trade to explain this change and other issues from the FRN on the final rule. We expect the FAQ to be issued this week.

NCBFAA RAC member, Myra Reynolds with the John S. James Co. recently analyzed the FCC's newly effective rules related to the authorization of radiofrequency devices. She had composed the attached summation of the rule provisions to help members to better understand this complex rule and assist them in conveying some of the new requirements to their clients

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) held a quarterly meeting last week, November 14, in Washington, DC and NCBFAA President Geoff Powell and Vice President Amy Magnus were in attendance. The following day, Mr. Powell, as well as the Officers, Board of Directors and Committee Chairs attended another Strategic Planning discussion. On Thursday, November 16, Mr. Powell spoke at the Customs Brokers & International Freight Forwarders Association of Virginia in Norfolk.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee is looking for a volunteer to be our BKIP Champion. We need BKIP to become widely adopted by our membership and widely recognized in the trade. A champion to head up this effort-either working as a committee of one or with friends and allies--will work to promote understanding of the program with our members, encourage use of the program, and work with the NCBFAA on promotional activities.

CBP's automated Customs Broker Exam administered on October 25 experienced system latency and performance deterioration. Working with its contract exam provider, CBP is identifying and addressing the technical issues that caused these problems. Long term system remediation is underway. The NCBFAA will be discussing the situation with CBP senior management early this week.

NCBFAA President Geoff Powell and NEI Executive Director Kiko Zuniga recently attended the ASAPRA meeting in Cartagena, Colombia. Todd Owen, Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, addressed the group and then spent some time talking to both on a number of issues. At the 2017 Government Affairs Conference, Alfonso Rojas, the President of ASAPRA, addressed the attendees on the important work of ASAPRA in central, South America and North America. ASAPRA now has been appointed to the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG) at the World Customs Organization (WCO), an additional path for the NCBFAA to be present and represented at the WCO. Mr. Powell, as well as Rich Roche and Kristine Little, attended the FMC Sunshine meeting. At the meeting, Mr. Powell was able to speak with all the Commissioners and the Chairman on a variety of topics. They thanked Commissioner Dye and Acting Chairman Khouri for their great work in moving this NPRM forward. As Commissioner Dye and Acting Chairman Khouri said, the NPRM is a very positive step in the right direction, but we are not finished with deregulation to bring greater efficiencies to the supply chain.

NCBFAA President Geoff Powell urged Congressional trade leaders to renew GSP before it expires on December 31, 2017. The letter to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee leaders pointed out to lawmakers that, if the GSP program is allowed to lapse, "companies will face an estimated $75 million in duties on imports from GSP countries each and every month until the program is renewed!"

On December 9, ACE will become the only CBP-authorized EDI system for generating, transmitting, and updating daily and monthly statements for all entries except reconciliation (type 09) entries and the ACS will be decommissioned for such purposes. However, until reconciliation entries are filed in ACE, statements for reconciliation entries will continue to use ACS.

FDA recently issued a memo addressing Division of West Coast Imports communication and a factsheet providing a status update on the new ITACS functionality. The Division of West Coast Imports new communication directive outlines the correct format that parties must follow when contacting West coast ports through a central e-mail address.

BIS along with the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of State are taking coordinated steps to implement portions of the National Security Presidential Memorandum on Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba. Included in these actions is a BIS rule to amend the licensing policy for Cuba and portions of three license exceptions available for exports and reexports to Cuba: License Exceptions Gift Parcels and Humanitarian Donations, Consumer Communications Devices, and Support for the Cuban People.

President Geoff Powell announced that NCBFAA has joined the U.S. Global Value Chain Coalition -- a newly formed coalition of companies and trade associations whose mission is to educate policymakers and the public about the American jobs and economic benefits generated by companies in the global supply chain.

The FMC invites comments on its recently released Initial Draft Strategic Plan for FY 2018-2022 (draft Plan). Comments on the Commission's draft Plan must be submitted on or before December 6, 2017.

In April 2015, the NCBFAA filed a petition with the Federal Maritime Commission requesting that the FMC initiate a rulemaking to further deregulate NVOCC rate tariffs. As you know, in addition to publishing rates in tariff form, the FMC has previously issued two exemptions for the benefit of NVOCCs. The first exemption was called NVOCC Service Arrangements ("NSAs"), which permitted NVOs to enter into private confidential contracts with their customers in a manner that is akin to service contracts that VOCCs enter into with their shipper customers. That exemption required that these NSAs be treated exactly like service contracts from a regulatory perspective, so that NVOCCs using them had to both file a copy of the contract with the FMC and publish their essential terms in a rate tariff. The second exemption pertained to NVOCC rate arrangements ("NRAs"), which permitted NVOCCs to avoid having to publish rate tariffs at all. Instead, NVOs were permitted provide their customers with rate quotations and, assuming the customers accepted, the traffic could move on that basis without having to memorialize the rates in rate tariff form. However, the NRA exemption also had disadvantages, in that: (1) the NRA could not be amended, (2) shippers were required to sign them, and (3) they could not properly include other economic terms such as commitments to ship specified volumes, liquidated damages, credit terms, etc.

The House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee introduced a long-anticipated Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) containing more than 1800 duty suspensions or duty reductions. The bill is a bipartisan, bicameral effort which follows a year long administrative process at the International Trade Commission to review petitions from companies.

The U.S. Census Bureau released data findings from the 2014 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs Exporting Firms Summary.

On October 25, CBP administered the inaugural electronic version of its Customs Broker Licensing Exam and many applicants were subjected to unsatisfactory testing conditions. As news of the examination difficulties arose, the NCBFAA requested members provide feedback to both CBP and NCBFAA with their experiences. Difficulties test takers faced included:

The Commerce Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the two agencies to work together to facilitate international e-commerce and strengthen enforcement of U.S. customs laws. The fast-changing e-commerce trade environment requires collaboration on policies and programs to help U.S. businesses compete in international markets.

CBP has announced that effective January 1, 2018, a number of CBP user fees will be adjusted for inflation in keeping with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Fees affected by this 2.677 percent increase include the commercial vessel arrival fees, commercial truck arrival fees, railroad car arrival fees, private vessel arrival fees, private aircraft arrival fees, commercial aircraft and vessel passenger arrival fees, dutiable mail fees, customs broker permit user fees, barges and other bulk carrier arrival fees, and merchandise processing fees. CBP described its procedures for adjusting these user fees to reflect inflation in a release.

The FMC has launched a webpage dedicated to reporting on the agency's regulatory reform initiative. Building upon recent Presidential Executive Orders, the Commission's regulatory reform initiative is a voluntary effort to evaluate the agency's existing regulations and programs, and make recommendations regarding their repeal, replacement or modification. The Commission recently sought input from the public on this reform effort through a Notice of Inquiry, and is working to move the Commission's regulatory reform initiative forward expeditiously. Karen V. Gregory, the Commission's Regulatory Reform Officer, notes that "this webpage will further the Commission's effort to keep the public informed and engaged in the regulatory reform process."

In an effort to provide sufficient guidance for two license exceptions included in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), this final rule, published in the Wednesday November 1 Issue of the Federal Register, makes clarifications to License Exception Governments, International Organizations, International Inspections under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the International Space Station (GOV) and adds five notes, along with making other minor clarifications, to License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization (STA).