CBP and customs brokers are working together to review and modify the agency's previously released notice describing filing and other operations at the Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs), said Valerie Neuhart, director of industry and account management at CBP. Neuhart spoke on a panel Nov. 27 on CEEs at the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium. There's also still some uncertainty on exactly how CEEs will handle importers that import goods across several industry areas, stakeholders sad.
Tim Warren
Timothy Warren is Executive Managing Editor of Communications Daily. He previously led the International Trade Today editorial team from the time it was purchased by Warren Communications News in 2012 through the launch of Export Compliance Daily and Trade Law Daily. Tim is a 2005 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and lives in Maryland with his wife and three kids.
The Department of Homeland Security must work closely with trade to develop innovate and efficient processes while ensuring the security of the global supply chain, said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano Nov. 27, speaking at the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium. A better understanding and ability to identify risks in trade will facilitate the trade process, she said.
The U.S. and Japan have agreed to expand Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) agreement to apply to exports from the U.S. being imported in to Japan, said CBP Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar, speaking at the CBP East Coast Trade Symposium Nov. 27. The U.S. signed in 2009 a mutual recognition arrangement (MRA) that recognizes compatibility between the U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Japan's Partners AEO cargo security programs. That agreement didn't apply to U.S. exports to Japan.
CBP will open six more Centers of Excellence and Expertise during FY 2013, bringing the total number of CEEs to 10, said CBP Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar, who spoke at CBP's Trade Symposium Nov. 27. The announcement marks the addition of another CEE beyond the previously announced total of nine CEEs planned for FY 2013. The additional location is a result of the splitting of Base Metals and Machinery, which were previously to be combined within a single CEE, at the suggestion of the trade community, said a CBP spokesman. Aguilar also announced the locations and industry focuses of the planned CEEs.
CBP issued its weekly tariff rate quota and tariff preference level commodity report as of Nov. 26. This report includes TRQs on various products such as beef, sugar, dairy products, peanuts, cotton, cocoa products, and tobacco; and certain BFTA, DR-CAFTA, Israel FTA, JFTA, MFTA, OFTA, SFTA, UAFTA (AFTA) and UCFTA (Chile FTA) non-textile TRQs etc. Each report also includes the AGOA, ATPDEA, BFTA, DR-CAFTA, CBTPA, Haitian HOPE, MFTA, NAFTA, OFTA, SFTA, and UCFTA TPLs and TRQs for qualifying textile articles and/or other articles; the TRQs on worsted wool fabrics, etc.
CBP issued the following releases on commercial trade and related issues:
CBP posted a Nov. 26 version of its CF 1400 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Entrances) electronic query report of the Vessel Management System (VMS), in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by entrances. CBP also posted a version of its CF 1401 (Record of Vessel in Foreign Trade Clearances) electronic query report of the VMS, in accordance with 19 CFR 4.95, organized by clearances.
CBP recently added document imaging capabilities to the Cargo Release/Simplified Entry pilot program, the agency said in two new documents summarizing the pilot program. As a result, participants can now provide documentation to CBP and Partner Government Agencies (PGAs) by email, said CBP. The Simplified Entry pilot, which was recently expanded to additional companies and ports, is the first phase of Cargo Release in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
CBP is working to install a revised process to better manage the privately owned and operated bonded facilities, said the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General in its report on "Major Management Challenges Facing the Department of Homeland Security." The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) pointed to the lax oversight of privately owned bonded facilities as a serious security flaw in a report earlier this year.
The Food Safety and inspection Service (FSIS) proposed to change regulations to make way for the Public Heath and Information System (PHIS) Import Component. PHIS was launched earlier this year and allows for electronic filing for import inspection applications and imported product foreign inspection and foreign establishment certificate processes. The proposed changes are are scheduled for publication in the Federal Register Nov. 27.