Monday Morning eBriefing

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 U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has released its newly revised Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) for 2024.

The trade was caught off guard by the Biden Administration's surprise Executive Order to expand a previous Order banning Russian seafood imports. Issued Dec. 22, the order prohibits imports of seafood products processed in third countries that contain seafood harvested in Russian waters or caught by Russian-flag vessels.

The 51st NCBFAA Annual Conference at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa on April 14-17, 2024, will be here before we know it.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Laredo Field Office on Dec. 29 told the trade that al eight ports of entry within the Laredo area are open and continue to process commercial shipments which are transported by truck and rail.

In support of the Executive Order and the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) determination of Dec. 22, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will now require importers to provide self-certification that fish, seafood, and seafood containing products imported into the U.S. do not contain any inputs originating from the Russian Federation.

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

As per CSMS # 56721104 - Announcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Cargo Messages, on Jan. 16 customs brokers will begin receiving messages on entry summaries that are potentially noncompliant for antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD), while the entry summaries are in trade control (prior to the entry moving to statement).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on Dec. 26 announced the further extension through May 31, 2024, of the reinstated and COVID-related exclusions in the China Section 301 Investigation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is deploying the Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) code to CBP’s PRODUCTION environment on Jan. 13. The EPA HFC flags (EH1, EH2) will be enforced with a reject severity following the deployment.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Jan. 27 will deploy the Update to the Timing of Entry Type 86 Release Messages (1C) in Air Environment (Non-Express) enhancement to ACE.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally launched the Cosmetics Direct web portal after initial missteps. The portal is for importers and manufacturers/processors (including foreign manufacturers/processors) to register their facilities and list their cosmetic products.

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 Empire Worldwide Logistics, FLS Transportation, Mellohawk Logistics USA, and Surfgistics which have recently joined our association.

Customs and Border Protection released the Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS) dates for 2024 during which customs brokers can pay duties for shipments entered or released during the previous calendar month.

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) is updating the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) to prohibit "aggregated harvest reports of Northern Red Snapper" regardless of vessel size.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently deployed the filer Entry Banks functionality in the modernized ACE Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal). Until future notice, the Entry Banks functionality will remain available in the legacy ACE Portal, the agency said.

A coalition of more than 165 agriculture, business, logistics, and labor organizations, including NCBFAA, on Dec. 19 requested a meeting with California Gov. Gavin Newsom to discuss “real-world impacts” of the state’s clean air policies that attempt to “force transitions faster than the adoption of the technology or creation of the supporting infrastructure necessary for their implementation.”

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released two rulings of significance to customs brokers.