Monday Morning eBriefing

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) in a declaration that it had deployed Phase 3 of the Consolidated Administration and Process of Entries (CAPE) in ACE at 5:10 a.m. ET on Oct. 6. This phase covers finally liquidated entries filed by plaintiffs for which the CIT has ordered reliquidation.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Oct. 7 Federal Register in which the agency proposes to amend its regulations to modify filing requirements for informal entries of goods valued at $2,500 or less and to establish a new electronic informal entry type for merchandise entering through the mail environment. The agency also proposes other related changes such as requiring an additional data element for carriers pertaining to mail shipments and imposing bonding requirements for certain informal entries.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

In guidance issued Oct. 1, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it will not enforce the new requirement to provide the mail service name and tracking number until May 1, 2027, since the receiving systems are not ready.

The USDA National Organic Program's (NOP) Jonathan Veley joined the NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) immediately following the Sept. 27-29 Government Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington, D.C., to provide updates on NOP import certificate filing.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Oct. 6 published a notice of conforming amendment to product exclusion in the Federal Register related to China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer joined his trade minister counterparts from Mexico and Argentina to issue a statement to eliminate forced labor in global supply chains on the margins of the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Oct. 1.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agriculture & Prepared Products Center of Excellence and Expertise notified the trade, effective Oct. 5, that the entry requirements for potatoes originating in Prince Edward Island, Canada, have changed.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Oct. 1 sent an email to individually licensed customs brokers from the agency's CE email, recommending that they file their TSR as soon as their CE credits are complete. The deadline to complete the 20 hours of CE credits is Jan. 31, 2027.

This is the year that food facilities — both foreign and domestic — must renew their food facility registrations with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, owners, operators, or agents in charge of a domestic or foreign facility that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food for consumption by humans or animals in the U.S. are required to submit their registration renewal with FDA. Customs brokers should alert their importer clients to make sure that foreign manufacturers or growers in their supply chain file a timely registration renewal with the agency.

It is with profound sadness that NCBFAA notifies our membership of the recent passing of David Katzman, of Ashland, Massachusetts, on Sept. 25. He was 78. David was a past president of the Boston Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association and served as Treasurer and in other committee leadership roles for many years in NCBFAA. He spoke often on customs compliance at trade conferences and industry colleagues across the country appreciated his integrity.

NCBFAA Maritime Committee Chair Rich Roche will receive the coveted Centurion Award during the closing ceremony of the 54th NCBFAA Annual Conference at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, on April 14, 2027. The association will present this prestigious award to Roche, a longtime NCBFAA Member, Past Transportation Committee Vice Chair, and Maritime (formerly NVOCC) Subcommittee Chair, in appreciation of his outstanding vision, leadership, and dedication to the betterment of the international freight transportation community. Roche will retire at the end of this year.

A summary of the latest customs and cross-border trade regulatory updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Customs Counsel firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.

A summary of the latest legislative and regulatory transport, logistics and trade sector updates brought to you by our NCBFAA Transportation Counsel firm Venable.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome 1UP Cargo, Affinity Shipping (USA), and WorkBetterNow, which have recently joined our association. We're so excited to have these firms join our organization and we are happy to assist in any way we can!

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Houston-Galveston seaport announced the tentative opening of the new East Coast Centralized Examination Station (CES). Effective Oct. 13, CBP said the trade is authorized to start transferring cargo for examination to this facility. “This opening is intended to streamline examination processes and enhance the efficiency of trade operations in the region,” the agency said.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 22 implemented the Entry Type 13 (ET13) test through enhancements to ACE. In support of this deployment, the agency on Sept. 30 moved the following ACE implementation guides from the “Draft Chapters: Future Capabilities” section of CBP.gov to the applicable sections for deployed functionality.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 29 issued two Withhold Release Orders (WROs) against palm oil and its derivative products produced by Mitra Aneka Rezeki and Hardaya Inti Plantation in Indonesia. Effective immediately, CBP personnel at all U.S. ports of entry will detain palm oil and its derivative products produced in Indonesia by MAR and HIP.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) provided the trade with updated guidance for Section 232 duties on pharmaceutical and related ingredient imports. This update defines the pharmaceutical products and lists the jurisdictions that are eligible to receive a tariff rate of zero under clause 3(d) of Proclamation 11020 and HTSUS 9903.04.66. The notice also provides five technical corrections to Annex I and one technical correction to annex IV. These latest Section 232 duty changes took effect Sept. 29.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has provided the trade with guidance regarding the implementation of the import exclusions of certain Canadian products. Effective at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sept. 29, any entry containing covered products will be unconditionally rejected by CBP. The covered Canadian product imports are identified in the Annexes to Presidential Proclamations 11061, 11062, and 11063.