Brian Feito

ATLANTA -- CBP is looking at options to create a “foreign entity ID” to replace the manufacturer ID it currently requires on entry documentation, said Jeff Nii, director of CBP’s interagency collaboration division, at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 6. Alongside its counterparts on the Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC), the agency is looking into several options, including working with a non-profit standards organizations and creating the IDs on its own, prioritizing low cost in the hopes that the entity ID system garners worldwide adoption. The BIEC, which is currently finalizing its own operating procedures, will also soon begin consideration of product sub-identifiers that would provide more detail than currently allowed by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, Nii said.

ATLANTA -- The next several years represent an opportunity for CBP and the trade community to begin work on “Mod Act 2.0” legislation to set the stage for modernized customs processes over the next few decades, said Cynthia Whittenburg, deputy assistant commissioner in CBP’s Office of International Trade, at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 5. After 24 years under the original Customs Modernization Act of 1993, “we find ourselves once again inhibited by our current legislation and regulations,” she said. Judging by that law, which took five to seven years until final passage, the process could be a lengthy one, she said.

ATLANTA -- CBP is waiting for NAFTA negotiations to “mature” before making a final decision on how it will handle Section 321 shipments, Acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said during opening remarks at the East Coast Trade Symposium on Dec. 5. Though the agency had “hoped to articulate a clear path forward” at the conference, the agency has to “let that dialogue play out with our key partners in Canada and Mexico,” he said.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 27 - Dec. 3:

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration should put in place a “soft compliance” policy for its Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP) filing requirements when they take effect on Jan. 1, 2018, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a letter to the agency citing concerns over trade community readiness. Despite “extensive outreach” by NOAA, customs brokers and their importer clients are having trouble getting the required data from other actors in the supply chain, and there has been insufficient time for testing in ACE, the NCBFAA said in the Dec. 1 letter.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 20-26:

The Court of International Trade on Nov. 27 denied an importer’s request to have the government cover its attorneys’ costs and fees from a lengthy case on CBP’s authority to reliquidate entries that had been deemed liquidated. CBP was justified when it denied the protest that led to the court case because the aggrieved importer, Consolidated Fibers, raised outdated arguments on the protest, even though the company would eventually prevail after raising different claims in its lawsuit.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 13-19:

CBP will use the widespread ACE outage that occurred on the evening of Nov. 14 to inform national downtime procedures and best practices currently under development, agency officials said on a Nov. 15 call with ACE filers and developers. CBP headquarters is communicating with the ports to determine what worked well during the downtime and identify any issues and deficiencies, CBP Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner Cynthia Whittenburg said. The outreach is part of an effort to “ensure that our downtime procedures are efficient as possible” and incorporate any best practices identified, she said.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Nov. 6-12: