Monday Morning eBriefing

The USDA National Organics Program will begin hard enforcement of the Organics regulation on Sept. 19. Entries for organic products submitted on that date must have an Organic Import Certificate issued by a USDA-accredited certifier and both the importer and exporter must be certified.

The Biden-Harris Administration on Friday, Sept. 13, announced that it’s taking new actions to address what it says is a “significant increased abuse of the de minimis exemption, in particular China-founded e-commerce platforms" and will implement new rules to more effectively "target and block" illicit shipments.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has developed a non-exhaustive list of unacceptable vs. acceptable cargo descriptions.

Although the Gemini Cooperation Agreement took effect Sept. 9, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Daniel Maffei expressed “questions and concerns” whether the agreement could still result in “anti-competitive consequences” that violate the Shipping Act.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified the trade that all repackaged medications sold to retail customers will be required to be marked with the country of origin.

A Sept. 12 press release issued by Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a final rule to incorporate various voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) and penalty guidelines policy changes made over the past few years into their Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the appointment of the agency’s first-ever Chief of Corporate Enforcement.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) notified the trade that the Upland cotton fee does not apply to de minimis shipments.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Sept. 13 announced final modifications concerning the statutory review of the tariff actions in the Section 301 investigation of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation.

A group of 45 industry organizations, including NCBFAA, urge Congress to prioritize funding to the Department of Transportation’s Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to facilitate the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and other critical national assets impacted by unforeseen disasters.

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

The new emergency measures come in the wake of reports of two packages containing incendiaries having caught on fire within European parcel networks.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released an interim final rule on Sept. 13 extending the record keeping requirements to 10 years to be consistent with the statue of limitations.

The NCBFAA Government Affairs Conference (GAC) on Sept. 22-24 is an opportunity for you to join your colleagues in Washington, D.C., to meet with U.S. lawmakers and their staff to collectively voice legislative positions that better our customs brokerage and freight forwarding industry.

On behalf of NCBFAA's Board of Directors, Leadership and Staff, we want to take a moment to acknowledge and welcome Focus Business Solutions, iClear CHB, Intertrans Forwarding Services, LSP Cargo, and Trade Force Multiplier which have recently joined our association.

The Census Bureau announced a new response message in the Automated Export System (AES) which will be available in CERT testing environment on Sept. 16 and in Production on Sept. 30.

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

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it is updating the timing for delivering the Courtesy Notices for Suspension, Extensions and Liquidations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its Supplemental Guidelines to reflect changes in language and text.

A fully updated version of the external ACE Cargo Release Business Rules and Processes for the Trade document, Version 2.0, is available.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released updated FAQs for the implementation of its updated Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) Implementation Guide.