Tim Warren

SAN DIEGO -- With the Centers of Excellence and Expertise handling more post-entry work, importers are seeing duty bills revised upward more often, which is leading to increased bond requirements, said Lisa Gelsomino, CEO of Avalon Risk Management, during the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 14. When the duty bills are found to be wrong, CBP considers such improper declarations to be indicative of a higher-risk importer, which leads to a higher bonding requirement, she said. Other factors that could lead to an increased bond include fines, penalties and forfeitures, as well as surety payments, she said.

SAN DIEGO -- CBP is in "almost daily contact" with Hanjin Shipping as the insolvent company devises a path for moving cargo to its intended destinations, CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said at the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 14. The agency is working to understand the "difficult issues," such as cargo sitting offshore and the storage or movement of cargo at the ports (see 1609300047), he said. "We have made sure that on the West Coast, all of our port directors" know what's going on, he said. The agency is also "well aware" of the problems the situation is causing, he said. Much about Hanjin's future, including a possible sale, remains unclear, the Wall Street Journal reported (here).

The subject of an antidumping or countervailing duty evasion investigation under CBP's new regulations deserves notification before the agency takes "interim measures," the American Institute for International Steel said in comments to CBP (here). CBP requested comments on its procedures when it issued an interim final rule implementing AD/CV duty evasion language from the customs reauthorization law's Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA) (see 1608190014). The lack of early transparency in the process also threatens supply chains and broad categories of importers, the AIIS said.

The following customs brokers' licenses and all associated permits are revoked without prejudice for failure to file a triennial status report, CBP said in a notice (here).

SAN DIEGO -- Early feedback from Capitol Hill and stakeholders on CBP's recently issued regulations for new antidumping and countervailing duty evasion processes (see 1608190014) was largely focused on the lack of administrative protective orders (APOs) within such allegation proceedings, said Troy Riley, executive director-Commercial Targeting and Enforcement at CBP. Riley, who spoke on a panel at the Western Cargo Conference on Oct. 14, said it's too early since the processes were put in place for CBP to really know what issues seem to cause problems, he said. Comments are due Oct. 21.

CBP is proposing to revise its regulations to allow for official liquidation notices to be posted electronically to the agency's website, CBP said in a notice (here). The proposed rule changes would mean that notices of liquidations, liquidation suspensions and liquidation extensions are no longer posted at ports, CBP said. The changes were largely expected, though as an interim final rule rather than a proposed rule, ahead of the transition date for liquidation in ACE (see 1608170055). The agency recently delayed the mandatory use of post-release processing, including liquidation, in ACE to January (see 1609280072).

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested public input on "specific existing significant DHS rules that the Department should consider as candidates for modification, streamlining, expansion, or repeal," the agency said in a notice (here). DHS, which includes CBP and ICE, is working to "ensure that DHS satisfies its statutory obligations and achieves its regulatory objectives without imposing unwarranted costs." Since 2011, DHS seeks comment on the need for regulatory changes every three years. The agency also publishes a progress report twice a year giving status updates on regulations under retrospective review, it said. The most recent status report is (here). Comments are due Nov. 10.

With the major components of ACE nearing completion, the next focus at CBP will be on how best to use its new data tools included in the system, said Deborah Augustin, executive director of CBP's ACE Business Office, while speaking at the U.S. Air Cargo Industry Affairs Summit Oct. 4. CBP will seek to figure out how "to better leverage the data and information that we're using and that we're gaining from the system to facilitate our processes, promote more effective risk management, and keep moving towards the original goal and intent of the single window initiative," she said. The previous reliance on paper made it difficult for CBP to create a "baseline" for "time to release," but ACE will allow the agency to measure that data and figure out where future process improvements may be needed, Augustin said.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will allow for several "interim" measures for filing electronic Lacey Act information in ACE for goods leaving Foreign Trade Zones, the agency said in a letter to the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones. The interim measures are necessary because the electronic CBP Form 214 (e214) system, used to provide data for Partner Government Agencies on goods admitted into an FTZ, won't be "fully integrated for PGA data until 2017," APHIS Administrator Kevin Shea said in a Sept. 7 letter to the NAFTZ. Entry/entry summaries for entry type 06 were required to be filed in ACE as of May 28, but the requirement won't be enforced until after Nov. 28 (see 1608190035).

CBP's proposal to eliminate "blanket certification" and require information for all chemical imports about whether Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations apply seems to contradict ongoing efforts to streamline trade processing, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said (here). "We urge CBP to include an exemption from the negative certification for chemicals that are clearly identified as a pesticide or other chemical not subject to TSCA," the NCBFAA said in comments to CBP in response to the agency's proposal involving the use of ACE for goods subject to TSCA regulations (see 1608260032). "In our view, requiring a negative certification for these non-TSCA products is an overreach that is incompatible" with the 2014 Executive Order on streamlining trade processing, the group said.