COAC Announces Next Meeting Date, Releases Agenda

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) for CBP will next meet March 6 remotely and in person in Charleston, South Carolina, CBP said in a notice. Comments are due in writing by March 1.

The COAC will hear from the following subcommittees on the topics listed below and then will review, deliberate and formulate recommendations on how to proceed on those topics:

• The Intelligent Enforcement Subcommittee will provide updates on the work completed and topics discussed in its working groups. The Antidumping/Countervailing Duty (AD/CVD) Working Group will provide updates regarding its work and discussions on importer compliance with AD/CVD requirements. For this quarter, CBP continued to work on revisions to the Statement of Work (SOW) for the Forced Labor Working Group. During the next quarter, the Forced Labor Working Group will begin meeting and having discussions under the revised SOW. The SOW may include objectives to enhance focus on technology best practices, stakeholder training and guidance, transparency, and monitoring progress of the implementation of prior recommendations made by COAC. The Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Process Modernization Working Group will report on the continuation of the development of enhancements in communications among CBP, rights holders and the trade community regarding enforcement actions. The Bond Working Group was placed on hiatus effective Dec. 13, 2023, and does not anticipate providing an update.
• The Next Generation Facilitation Subcommittee will provide updates on all its existing working groups, to include a new working group, and the transfer of an existing working group to this subcommittee. The ACE 2.0 Working Group had the chance to review the remaining business case scenarios for the Concept of Operations Document. The Customs Interagency Industry Working Group (CII) continues to work on identifying data redundancies to improve efficiencies for the government and the trade. A new working group, the Modernized Entry Processes Working Group, launched following the start of the 17th term of the COAC. The Broker Modernization Working Group has been transferred from the Rapid Response Subcommittee to this subcommittee. Finally, the Passenger Air Operations Working Group continues to discuss with the Trusted Worker Program (eBadge) CBP Security Seal automated processing, automation of forms, and global entry/trusted traveler programs, and will provide an update on those discussions.
• The Rapid Response Subcommittee had one active working group this quarter, the USMCA Chapter 7 Working Group. The working group met twice during this quarter. The group will discuss their determination that the goals of the Statement of Work have been met and that the group will go on hiatus starting February 1, 2024. The Broker Modernization Working Group is still an active working group but has been transferred from the Rapid Response Subcommittee to the Next Generation Facilitation Subcommittee.
• The Secure Trade Lanes Subcommittee will provide updates on all seven of its active working groups: the Export Modernization Working Group, the In-Bond Working Group, the Trade Partnership and Engagement Working Group, the Pipeline Working Group, the Cross-Border Recognition Working Group, the De Minimis Working Group, and the Centers Working Group. The Export Modernization Working Group has continued its work on the Electronic Export Manifest Pilot Program and is specifically focused on the effects of progressive filing by the shipper to continuously update export information on successive dates rather than on a specific date. The In-Bond Working Group has continued its focus on the implementation of prior recommendations made by COAC. The Trade Partnership and Engagement Working Group has continued its work on the elements of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) security program and the validation process. The Pipeline Working Group has continued discussing the most appropriate “next step” commodities and potential users of Distributed Ledger Technology to engage once the pilot for tracking pipeline-borne goods deploys. The Cross-Border Recognition Working Group began to meet again to develop tasks specific to its Statement of Work. The De Minimis Working Group has continued its work on strengthening the supply chain and mitigating risks in the low-value package environment. The Centers Working Group, new to this subcommittee, has begun work towards the goals of its Statement of Work.