Brian Feito

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – CBP’s partner government agency (PGA) filing pilots in the Automated Commercial Environment are still hampered by a lack of participants, said Steve Hilsen, leader of International Trade Data System efforts at CBP, speaking at the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade Northeast Cargo Symposium on Oct. 27. Some PGAs are “ready to roll” with their pilot programs, but have yet to attract a single volunteer, he said.

With major changes ahead for CBP’s national permitting scheme, licensed customs brokers are increasingly concerned with the prospects for the profession, said several brokers in interviews. The expansion of remote location filing on national permits to all entry types and government agencies, set to occur by the end of 2016 alongside full implementation of the Automated Commercial Environment, could allow brokerages to employ a single licensed individual to qualify all of their customs business. Brokers have been active in voicing concerns that such an outcome could undermine compliance and make customs brokering a less attractive profession, but have yet to find a solution acceptable to CBP.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey is evaluating alternatives to its current Jan. 1, 2017 deadline for phasing out drayage trucks with engines made in 2006 or earlier, offering hope to drayage operators concerned that the port’s current approach could prove a disaster. The Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers, which represents drayage companies, says more than 70 percent of the trucks currently serving the port will be denied entry if the Port Authority’s deadline holds (here).

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 12-18:

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Oct. 5-11:

The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America is now considering alternative ways CBP can support the continued presence of a sufficient number of licensed brokers in customs business, with the agency so far unreceptive to the NCBFAA’s broker employment ratio proposal, said Alan Klestadt of Grunfeld Desiderio in an interview on Oct. 9. Among the options under consideration is a possible policy statement from CBP that the agency would consider the number of licensed brokers employed when making decisions on penalty mitigation, said Klestadt, who is the NCBFAA's customs counsel.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 4:

Ministers from the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership countries announced on Oct. 5 a final agreement that would cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade across the Asia-Pacific and set standards across a wide range of areas, from customs to labor and e-commerce. Work on the deal, which brings to a close more than five years of negotiations, now goes to the technical stage, after which it must be approved by the national government of each member country before taking effect.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Sept. 21-27:

A customs broker’s agency relationship is created only by a signed power of attorney and cannot be implied under state law from a broker-importer or broker-broker business relationship, said Middle North Carolina U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder on Sept. 16 as he dismissed a lawsuit brought against two customs brokerages by an importer that was erroneously listed as importer of record and forced to pay thousands of dollars in antidumping duties, according to a lawyer present at the ruling.