June 10-12 International Air Transport Association annual general meeting, Beijing, China -- http://www.iata.org/events/agm/2012/Pages/index.aspx
Licensed Customs Broker
Customs brokers are entities who assist importers in meeting federal requirements governing imports into the United States. Brokers can be private individuals, partnerships, associations or corporations licensed, regulated and empowered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Customs brokers oversee transactions related to customs entry and admissibility of merchandise, product classification, customs valuation, payment of duties, taxes, or other charges such as refunds, rebates, and duty drawbacks. To obtain a customs broker license, an individual must pass the U.S. Customs Broker License Exam. Customs brokers are not government employees and should not be confused with CBP officials. There are approximately 11,000 active licensed customs brokers in the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a final rule to permit licensed customs brokers to store records relating to their customs transactions at any location within the U.S. under certain conditions, and to remove the requirement that certain brokers retain entry records in their original format for the 120-day period after release of imported merchandise. The rule ran in the Federal Register June 8.
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices for June 1 (note that some may also be given separate headlines)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced May 25 that it is planning a number of Webinars during the summer of 2012 to solicit comment and input on all facets of the customs broker regulations (19 CFR Part 111). This is part of CBP’s Role of the Broker Initiative, meant to update the relationship between the customs broker and CBP.
The passage rate for for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection license exam in April 2012, is expected to be especially low, according to industry and government sources. One industry source said the passage rate may be as low as 1 percent, though CBP wouldn't confirm that, saying the numbers would be out next week. The issue was briefly addressed during the May 22 Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) meeting in Savannah, Ga.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is considering ways to leverage Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) and offer a simplified entry process to ACAS participants by integrating with the Simplified Entry initiative, said CBP Acting Commissioner David Aguilar during testimony before a House May 17 hearing on Customs issues .
U.S. Customs and Border Protection must be aware of the limits of what customs brokers can provide to CBP, though there are several ways brokers can work with CBP to further the importing process, according to written testimony from Darrell Sekin, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwards Association of America. Sekin is scheduled to testify May 17 before the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee during a hearing on Supporting Economic Growth and Job Creation through Customs Trade Modernization, Facilitation, and Enforcement.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection plans to establish two more Centers for Excellence and Expertise (CEEs) by the end of FY 2012, and five more after that by the end of FY 2013, CBP said in an updated "Trade Transformation" document. CBP said it is planning to establish a center for Automotive and Aerospace in Detroit and a Petroleum, Natural Gas and Minerals center in Houston.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 30-May 4, 2012 in case they were missed last week.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the European Union (EU) reached a Mutual Recognition (MR) Decision between CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the EU’s Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program May 4, 2012. An EU press release said the mutual recognition would begin July 1, 2012.