CBP Looking at 'Hybrid' Process Based on Entry Type 86, Low-Value Shipment Data

CBP is developing a “hybrid” process for low-value shipments based on the lessons from the low-value shipment data and Entry Type 86 pilots, Jim Swanson, CBP director-cargo and conveyance security and controls, said during a CBP Virtual Trade Week session Sept. 10. “We are looking at what a hybrid is going to look like,” he said. “What kind of process can collect this additional information from the party who owns it, get it in an early enough time for safety and security and enforcement perspective?” he said.

The agency is looking “forward” for a “future fix that is both regulatory and will be driven by the data collection and the process,” he said. Swanson said he was unable to get into too many details, but more information should be coming soon. CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan recently said a proposed rule is in the works (see 2007150056).

The industry has been waiting a long time for definitive action by CBP, Ted Henderson, director of U.S. customs at Expeditors International, said. “We absolutely know there are huge challenges with getting the necessary data from the key parties in an e-commerce import and really tying it all together into one nice, clean, deep data set,” he said. The government should also consider that even if “all the players in the courier and traditional forwarder/broker environment put measures in place to support CBP in stopping illicit trade, the bad guys just migrate to another path,” such as the postal system, he said. E-commerce isn't just in the “express, or mail, or air cargo,” said, Thomas Overacker, CBP executive director-cargo and conveyance security. “We see it in every, every vector.”

CBP has learned from the Type 86 pilot and Section 321 data collection initiatives that “the advanced information and the detailed information has been highly effective from our perspective,” Swanson said. Also, it found that “electronic clearance is an important piece of this process and that, from a U.S. government perspective, the ability to be able to give visibility to all of our government partners to do their missions from a health and safety perspective” is working, he said. In the longer term, it may eventually make sense to “think through” what de minimis means across all the government agencies “and I don't think it can be a dollar amount,” said Brandon Lord, CBP Office of Trade deputy executive director for trade policy and programs.

Section 321 eligibility seems to be a source of confusion for many claiming the exemption, Swanson said. CBP is “working with our trade partners to get to solutions around those areas” to “make sure that the people who are claiming Section 321 privilege actually meet the requirements of the law and to see if we need to make any additional changes in regulations and/or recommend any changes to Congress.” A recent increase in the use of ocean for e-commerce instead of air cargo due to costs has CBP considering an update to its Importer Security Filing requirements, Swanson said. “I think we are in the process of redoing that, and especially as it applies to e-commerce,” he said. Timing for such changes is not known, he said.

Despite some administration skepticism for the de minimis exemption (see 2005180009), the provision has “wide bipartisan support,” Rory Heslington, Senate Finance Committee international trade policy adviser, said. Heslington said he also hadn't heard of any interest in lowering the de minimis amount from $800.