Monday Morning eBriefing

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

Reminder to customs brokers: several Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registrations must be renewed by Dec. 31, 2025. This includes the FDA Drug Establishment Registration, the FDA Drug Listing and the Medical Device Establishment Registration.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published recent updates in the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) regarding the importation of live bees from Canada.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) continues to remind the trade that the temporary suspension of the hyphen requirement for ISPM‑15 markings on Wood Packaging Material will end on Dec. 31, 2025.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced Dec. 10 the authorization of Section 301 tariffs on Nicaragua products, excluding those originating under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), citing the country’s continued human rights abuses and disregard for rule of law.

The NCBFAA Customs Committee and Counsel of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., provide our customs broker members with the latest details of the White House tariff changes resulting from the implementation of the U.S.-Korea Strategic Trade and Investment Deal, as well as the related Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guidance, and the U.S.-U.K. Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD) regarding bilateral pharmaceuticals trade between the two countries. The Committee will continue sending our members Trump Administration tariff updates and subsequent CBP guidance, as soon as received.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) informed the NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) that swine-derived casings from Spain are not allowed into the U.S., effective immediately.

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

The NCBFAA Regulatory Agencies Committee (RAC) has redesigned its U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Toolkit, highlighting new FAQs and other helpful resources to help customs brokers and importers prepare for the July 8, 2026 effective date. Check out the Toolkit resources as you get ready for CPSC certificate e-filing and let the RAC know if you have additional questions at RAC@ncbfaa.org.

Registration is filling up fast for the upcoming 2026 NCBFAA Annual Conference at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas, on April 12-15, 2026. You do not want to miss attending this industry-leading event! Register today!

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

Customs and Border Protection in the Chicago Region, starting Dec. 1, will accept applications through Feb. 1, 2026, from firms interested in operating a Centralized Examination Station (CES) in the Port of Kansas City, Missouri Area.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has published a Federal Register notice informing customs brokers that the annual customs broker permit user fee due date for the 2026 calendar year is Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. The permit user fee for the 2026 calendar year is $185.38 and is due for all active national permits issued on or before Dec. 31, 2025.

In today’s fast-moving logistics environment, employers can’t afford long learning curves, operational mistakes, or knowledge gaps. Whether it’s misquoting a shipment, misunderstanding routing options, or missing a compliance requirement, the cost of inexperience adds up quickly. That’s why so many organizations rely on the TraversEd Global Trade Certificate (TGT) program—an industry-developed, FIATA-validated training pathway delivered through the NCBFAA Educational Institute. For more than a year, TGT has helped logistics companies build confident, job-ready staff faster and more consistently than traditional on-the-job training alone.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), effective Nov. 28, is accepting applications over a 60-day period to operate a Centralized Examination Station (CES) in the Port of St. Louis area.

As noted by the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association (LACBFFA), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Los Angeles/Long Beach has implemented significant procedural changes concerning the transportation of containers designated for MET and AQI examinations. Moving forward, the transfer of these containers to the Container Examination Station (CES) will be exclusively managed by the CES designated on the entry for the respective exam

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Nov. 26 announced the extension of exclusions in the Section 301 Investigation of China’s Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. The 178 exclusions were previously scheduled to expire on Nov. 29. The exclusions have been extended until Nov. 10, 2026.

The Transportation Security Administration’s proposed changes to Cargo Acceptance and Known Shipper requirements would alter existing language in a way that reclassifies a substantial number of shipments—currently eligible for transport under Known Shipper (KS) status—to Unknown Shipper (UKS) status. This shift would pose a significant and unwarranted risk to the resilience, efficiency, and, most importantly, the overall competitiveness of the U.S. air cargo system. While the industry fully supports TSA’s security objectives, the proposal would unintentionally weaken the current air cargo security framework and trigger cascading negative impacts throughout the air cargo supply chain. Comments are due to NCBFAA by close of business on Dec. 10.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reminded customs brokers that they are able to restrict access to their employee data by managing permissions through “Read Only” access in the ACE Secure Data Portal.

Customs and Border Protection, which on Nov. 21 published the “Notice of Enhanced Air Cargo Advanced Screening” in the Federal Register and effective 12:01 a.m. ET the same day, provided customs brokers and importers an update on what they need to know regarding the new required data elements.