Customs

Monday, June 17, 2013

   The Canadian Trucking Alliance has voiced concerns over the cross-border trucking fees collected by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and is worried they may soon increase.    Truckers pay a fee of $5.25 to the U.S. agency every time they cross the border, according to the alliance, and a recent study that shows the fees aren't generating enough revenue could lead to a larger fee. The fees are assessed whether or not the carrier is carrying ...

Friday, June 14, 2013

   Canadian and U.S. truckers have complained about punitive measures following C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) security breaches, and the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to make suspension or removal from the program not immediate.    The department has also published a document outlining the measures it will take when security breaches occur.    Carriers had been concerned about the lack of transparency involved in security-b...

Friday, June 14, 2013

   U.S. exporters are focusing their ire on the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT), Mexico’s tax agency for what they see as an increasing number of costly, time-consuming NAFTA audits and re-audits by the agency.    These exporters say the current Mexican government had promised to streamline the audit process.     “NAFTA rules of origin in this industry are very complex and require review of multiple levels of processing, which usually occurs at different com...

Friday, June 14, 2013

   The U.K.-based supplier of customs software Impatex said Friday that its Web-based freight management and customs processing package NetFreight is now available in the cloud, following an alliance with freight industry hardware specialist Albacore Systems.    NetFreight, launched in 2005 and acquired by Impatex in 2007, was designed as a browser-based system, operating either on a user’s in-house server, or on an external, hosted server.    “In practice, most NetFreight ...

Monday, June 10, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin full enforcement of the Importer Security Filing requirement on July 9, the agency announced Friday.    On that date, the agency will begin to issue liquidated damages for ISF violations, such as filing incomplete, inaccurate or late documentation.    The ISF rule went into effect on Jan. 26, 2009, but for the first year the program had no sanctions so that shippers and carriers could learn how to collect and file the ne...

Friday, May 31, 2013

   U.S. and Canadian homeland security, transportation and economic development officials signed a roadmap Thursday to guide both countries in coordinating investments in customs facilities, bridges and other infrastructure along their shared border.    The U.S.-Canada Border Infrastructure Investment Plan is the latest initiative under President Obama's and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Beyond the Border declaration in 2011 to work on a shared approach to security and economic comp...

Thursday, May 30, 2013

   The Mexican government is stepping up its implementation of recently introduced streamline audit procedures for the verification of textile products entering the country.    The procedures seek to avoid the illegal transshipment of textiles and other products under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new approach uses a sampling method with the intent to reduce the amount of paperwork, cost and time for U.S. companies to comply with the rules.    Francisc...

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Trade finance association to support NEI.   The Finance, Credit and International Business Association (FCIB) and the U.S. Commercial Service of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) have signed a memorandum of understanding to increase awareness in the U.S. business community, particularly among small and midsized businesses, about exporting and the tools and resources our organizations provide to help them succeed.    The FCIB and ITA have previously collabo...

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

   The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America has come out against a U.S. Customs proposal to improve due process procedures for suspending a broker's entry-filer code, saying that going after the code is a back-door way of trying to take away a broker's license and is unconstitutional.    Customs and Border Protection has been frustrated for years with the amount of time it takes to deactivate filer codes for problematic brokers.  In a Notice of Pro...

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

   International Trade Systems (ITS), a provider of U.S. customs brokerage and freight forwarding software, said Wednesday it will release a new Web-based system that links Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) form generation with analytics.    The system, ITS Web, will be available June 1. ITS said the system is certified by ACE and is the only ACE compatible software system with an analytics engine.    ACE is the commercial trade processing system being developed by U.S....

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

   Representatives from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have signed a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA), which allows for better cooperation between the two nations when investigating and preventing customs offenses.    In addition to helping stop smuggling and prevent customs fraud, the agreement will help both parties accurately assess customs duties. U.S. Customs authorities, according to officials, will also be able to increase borde...

Monday, April 22, 2013

   Shippers should expect delays receiving air cargo moving through major airports in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York after the U.S. Department of Transportation and its Federal Aviation Administration on Sunday began to furlough air traffic controllers as promised to make good on forced budget cuts that hit the entire government in March.        Critics said the Obama administration is using the reductions in air traffic control hours to...

Friday, April 19, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Thursday announced the opening of new Centers of Excellence and Expertise for base metals in Chicago, industrial and manufacturing materials in Buffalo, N.Y., and machinery in Laredo, Texas, giving those industries the opportunity for smoother customs processing of imports and uniform enforcement.    Also known as Industry Integration Centers, the virtual import processing centers are organized around specific industries and are designed ...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

   Since October U.S. Customs has seized more than a dozen imported Land Rover Defender off-road utility vehicles for violating federal road safety standards, including two early last month at the Port of Norfolk in Virginia.    The agency said it is aware of vehicles with altered vehicle identification numbers to make them appear at least 25 years old and therefore exempt from certain safety standards, such as air bags. The illegal shipments have been discovered arriving from Gr...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

   The customs broker Total Customs Services has begun using Descartes Systems Group’s cloud-based Canadian Customs Brokerage solution to improve shipment management, customs filing, security compliance, accounting, and customer service operations.    The solution also enables Total Customs to electronically transmit its customers’ advance importer data, as required by the Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Advance Commercial Information (ACI) eManifest program.    "Des...

Thursday, April 11, 2013

   Jeremy Baskin, senior advisor to the executive director of Regulations and Rulings at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, will retire June 1 after 35 years of federal service, he confirmed in an e-mail.    Baskin began his career with Customs in 1977 as a staff attorney. He frequently briefs the trade community on compliance issues and played significant roles in CBP's Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures program, the development of the Automated Commercial Environment, and t...

Monday, April 08, 2013

   Shusen Wei, 45, a citizen of China, pleaded guilty Friday in Miami federal court to charges stemming from his involvement in the smuggling of a carved rhinoceros horn from the United States to China, the U.S. Justice Department said.    Wei entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, who scheduled sentencing for April 29. Wei faces up to 10 years in prison and fine of up to $250,000, in addition to a term of supervised release of up to three years.  ...

Thursday, April 04, 2013

   Importers, exporters and other members of the trade community can expect continuity at U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the wake of the retirement of Commissioner David V. Aguilar on Sunday, Allen Gina, assistant commissioner for international trade, said Wednesday in a Webcast to members of the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) at their annual conference in Rhode Island.    Deputy Commissioner Thomas S. Winkowski has become the acting commissioner, a...

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun authorizing overtime again for personnel in the field and is postponing plans to furlough employees after last week's enactment of a six-month budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 that gave the Department of Homeland Security more flexibility in how it implemented budget cuts under the unsparing sequester process.    After President Obama signed the long-stalled appropriations act, CBP reevaluated how it would could meet th...

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Winkowski    Thomas Winkowski has been given the reins of U.S. Customs and Border Protection following the retirement of Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar, who was the de facto head of the agency in the absence of a politically appointed leader.    Winkowski is now listed as the acting commissioner - technically the "deputy commissioner performing the duties of the commissioner" - and Kevin McAleenan is the acting deputy commissioner on the agency's organizational chart. &n...

Wednesday, April 03, 2013

   The cloud-based logistics software supplier Trade Tech said Wednesday it will co-host a series of seminars on Japan’s Advance Filing Rules with Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (NACCS), the Japanese government entity responsible for import/export and Customs clearance.    The seminars are designed to help non-vessel-operating common carriers, freight forwarders and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) prepare for the new rule, set to take effect in March 2014. The rul...

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

   The Web-based global trade management solutions provider QuestaWeb said Tuesday it has entered into an alliance partnership with AduanaSoft, a Chihuahua, Mexico–based provider of IT solutions that automate Mexican Customs clearance.    Under the terms of the alliance, QuestaWeb and AduanaSoft have integrated their software to offer a seamless solution for U.S. companies manufacturing in Mexico’s maquiladora industry and conducting trade on both sides of the border.    The...

Friday, March 29, 2013

   Walter Kemmsies, chief economist of Moffatt & Nichol, said Thursday he is forecasting import cargo volumes in the peak season this year could be 5 percent higher than in 2012, but cautioned the economic outlook is cloudy because of government policy uncertainty.    One of several speakers at the Port of Long Beach’s annual Pulse of the Port Peak Season Forecast , Kemmsies indicated 2013 GDP growth forecasts range between 0.4 percent and 4.4 percent. As a result import cont...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   Rep. Dan Lipinski, D- Ill., has introduced legislation which aims to stop foreign manufacturers from skirting U.S. Customs duties by creating a better information-sharing network between the industry and government.       A Government Accountability Office analysis has found that these companies have cheated the U.S. government out of $600 million in duties since 2001. Manufacturers work around customs fees by undervaluing goods, misclassifying products or ...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   Local government and industry officials at three ports on the opposite end of the spectrum in California are lobbying members of Congress and U.S. Customs to adjust how the agency is implementing forced budget cuts because reductions in manpower to clear cargo are beginning to harm the maritime industry, with potential losses of millions of dollars per day just around the corner.     Port stakeholders say their unique circumstances mean that Customs and Border Protection's ini...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

U.S. Customs seeks to prevent C-TPAT disclosures.    U.S. Customs and Border Protection wants to exempt from disclosure under the Privacy Act certain information it collects and maintains about companies that participate in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a voluntary supply chain security program.    In a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register last Wednesday, CBP said it needed to bypass the law's disclosure requirements with regard to C-TPAT...

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

   The U.S. Census Bureau has finalized and published 138 changes and corrections to a proposed rule regarding its foreign trade data reporting requirements and Electronic Export Information, effective Jan. 8, 2014.    The reporting will occur through the government's Automated Export System (AES).    A few of the changes are still subject to review by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. The Census Bureau will publish a new notice in the Federal Register ...

Monday, March 18, 2013

   Descartes has integrated its messaging services with the e-desk application at the Antwerp Port Community System, a network that connects port participants and facilitates data exchange.    Now port members can send paper-based processes in the cloud and the port can transmit standardized wireless messages using Descartes' global logistics network.    The community system’s e-desk application was created to meet the reporting standards of the European Union’s export cont...

Monday, March 18, 2013

   Building on the success of an ocean-import security pilot designed to increase trade efficiency, the United States and Canada on Thursday reached an agreement in principle to move ahead with a trial program for pre-inspecting U.S.-bound trucks in Canada instead of at the border.       The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Canada's Ministry of Public Safety are teaming up on cargo security and host of other border management projects as part of the Beyond...

Friday, March 15, 2013

   Kenneth Bargteil, well respected within customs compliance circles for his deep knowledge of the industry and regulatory affairs in Washington, has been honored with the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America’s 2013 Centurion Award.    Bargteil, a tireless advocate for the customs brokerage industry and interlocutor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is a vice president with freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel in Baltimore.    Bargteil is t...

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Senate to consider short-term funding bill.    The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is now considering a proposal put forth by Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and ranking member Richard Shelby of Alabama that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, on Sept. 30, and avert a government shutdown March 27, when the current stop-gap spending measure expires.    The budget amendment builds on the continuing resolution passed by the House last week. Instea...

Monday, March 11, 2013

   A bicameral effort to facilitate trade of low-value shipments is underway with the introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of a bill that would raise the minimum value at which customs duties are imposed on imported goods.    Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., reintroduced legislation (H.R. 1020) similar to that last session that would set the threshold at $800 instead of the current $200 for having to declare goods for customs purposes and pay duties and fees. A "de minimus...

Friday, March 08, 2013

   Individuals and companies would be spared from filing customs documents and paying import duties and fees for more of their shipments under a proposal by two U.S. senators that would raise the threshold for such requirements from $200 to $800.    The Low Value Shipment Regulatory Modernization Act of 2013, sponsored by Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is strongly supported by the express delivery and e-commerce industries, which say it would increase trade by r...

Friday, March 08, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on Tuesday stopped a shipment containing 445 counterfeit “Beats by Dr. Dre” headphones and 28 all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) that violated Environmental Protection Agency rules.     The seized merchandise was valued at $171,499.    "This seizure demonstrates the vigilance of CBP officers and partner agencies working together at the Commercial Targeting and Analysis Center (CTAC)...

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

   The European Commission has delayed implementation of its known consignor rule, a new security law for shippers using air cargo out of Europe, from March 25 to April 29.    Once the rule takes effect, only companies listed as known consignors can designate their air freight as secure.    Status can be achieved by training employees about security in the supply chain and by enhancing other security practices. Firms that don’t submit to the new guidelines will see the...

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

   U.S. Customs is using plans for how to resume business in the wake of a natural or man-made disaster as a guideline for dealing with the forced budget cuts that went into effect March 1, the agency said in a memo over the weekend outlining how it will try to minimize the impact of the sequester process.    Officials reiterated that they are eliminating overtime work and personnel will begin to to lose a day per pay period in unpaid leave in mid-April. Their strategy redirects...

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

   A congressional watchdog agency found that agriculture inspection fees collected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service continue to come up short.    Specifically, the Government Accountability Office’s analysis discovered a more than $325 million gap between fee revenues and total program costs in fiscal year 2011, or 38 percent of Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) program costs. APHIS, for example, does not collect AQI fees...

Friday, March 01, 2013

   The Canadian Trucking Alliance is preparing for "massive" disruption to Canadian businesses due to impending U.S. government spending cuts, known as sequestration, which are expected to take effect today.    The association said Canadian trade with the United States, which accounts for more than 80 percent of all manufacturing output, could be dealt a huge blow.    The association is also worried about what effects the automatic spending cuts will have on U.S. ...

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

   A trade facilitation agreement by the World Trade Organization would benefit the supply chain by reducing trade blockages at borders, according to the Global Air Cargo Advisory Group.    Customs procedures are at the heart of such an agreement, and organizational changes are too important to be left alone, GACAG officials said.    The WTO had been considering an agreement during its latest round of negotiations in Doha, but discussions broke down.      Red...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

   Secure Shipper, a new Web-based exchange of U.S. Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and Europe's Authorized Economic Operator compliant logistics companies, is striving to double its worldwide membership in 2013.    Last month, Secure Shipper  added Rotterdam-based Broekman Group to its membership, and it’s now hoping for at least 13 additional new members in 2013.    The relatively new organization serves as a clearinghouse for overseas partners, giving U....

Thursday, February 21, 2013

   The U.S. Justice Department has charged five individuals and two domestic honey-processing companies for allegedly mislabeling Chinese-origin honey on Customs declarations to evade anti-dumping duties totaling more than $180 million, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which led the investigation, announced Wednesday.    The honey shipments were transshipped through other countries.    An undercover ICE agent took a job as director of procurement at Honey Holdi...

Thursday, February 21, 2013

   The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday determined that Chinese-made stainless steel sinks are dumped on the U.S. market, as well as benefit from export subsidies from the Chinese government.    The department determined these sinks from China have been sold in the United States at dumping margins (or below fair market value) ranging from 27.14 percent to 76.53 percent, while it also found these products have received countervailable subsidies from the Chinese government ranging...

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

   The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is preparing for the worst with the blunt tool of across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration, which is scheduled to kick in March 1 unless Congress acts to replace it with a more measured deficit-reduction package.    In testimony last Thursday before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the automatic budget cuts resulting from the 2011 debt-ceiling agreement would diminish border ...

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

U.S.-EU fully implement trusted trader reciprocity.    U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently announced that mutual recognition between its Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program and the European Union's Authorized Economic Operator program was fully implemented Jan. 31.    The arrangement is designed to give expedited security status to shippers that belong to one of the trusted shipper programs and have demonstrated to local authorities that they have effective se...

Monday, February 11, 2013

   Preparations for Valentine’s Day, the annual onslaught of flower shipments from around the world, have begun.    Saudi Cargo has added four extra freighter flights between Nairobi and Amsterdam this month to meet an increased demand for flower exports. The new flights — a mix of MD11 and B 747-F aircraft — will bring Saudi’s total European flower capacity to 1,000 tons. According to officials, this is the third consecutive year Saudi has added more flights during February to deal w...

Monday, February 11, 2013

   David V. Aguilar is taking retirement and will step down as the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Homeland Security announced late Friday.    In an e-mail to employees, Aguilar said his retirement takes effect at the end of March.    Aguilar has led the border management agency for more than a year over two stints. Aguilar rose through the ranks and became chief of the Border Patrol in 2004 in the early days of its integration with U.S. C...

Friday, February 08, 2013

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection has cancelled the Trade Support Network's plenary session scheduled for Feb. 26-28 in Baltimore, according to an e-mail from the ACE Business Office to TSN members.    No reason for the cancellation was given in the message and there was no mention of alternative dates in the future, but a spokeswoman said the agency had difficulty securing a venue.    The TSN is a group of about 300 trade compliance professionals divided into ...

Friday, February 08, 2013

   The U.S. Justice Department said Ashu Bhandari, former president and chief executive officer of U.S. Virgin Islands-based GEM Manufacturing, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St. Thomas for felony customs violations for his role in a scheme to illegally import protected black coral into the United States.    Bhandari is the last defendant to be sentenced from an investigation into the illegal trade of black coral. “The scheme cost Bhandari’s company, GEM Manufacturing, mil...

Thursday, February 07, 2013

   After a series of delays, the Port of Stockton last week terminated the concession agreement with a private company tasked with managing, marketing and operating a new barge service to move containers between the port and Oakland.    The Stockton port authority will assume leadership and direct operational control of the service with a target start date of early spring, Mark Tollini, deputy port director for trade and operations, said in a phone interview.    "It wa...

Thursday, February 07, 2013

   The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday said five individuals and five corporations have been charged in an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn, N.Y., for allegedly importing hazardous and counterfeit toys from China for sale in the United States.    The 24-count indictment charges Chenglan Hu, 51; Hua Fei Zhang, 52; and Xiu Lan Zhang, 60, all Chinese nationals and residents of Queens, N.Y., and Guan Jun Zhang, 29; and Jun Wu Zhang, 28, both naturalized citizens and Queens residents, ...

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

   The cloud-based logistics software provider Trade Tech said Tuesday it has been authorized by Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (NACCS) for filing according to Japan’s Advance Filing Rules due to go into effect March 2014.    NACCS is the Japanese government entity responsible for import/export and customs clearance services. Since Japan’s Advance Filing Rules require shippers to use NACCS to electronically file their maritime container cargo information, the orga...

Friday, January 11, 2013

   A new U.S. rule raising the threshold value to $2,500 for shipments eligible for informal customs entry went into effect Jan. 7.     As previously reported, U.S. Customs and Border Protection last month published notice of its intent to increase by $500 the limit for which merchandise may qualify for an informal entry , thereby eliminating the need for a surety bond, expediting customs clearance and reducing the amount of the Merchandise Processing Fee from $25 to $2 for ...

Thursday, January 10, 2013

   The Taiwan subsidiary of Yusen Logistics has been certified by China Customs as an authorized economic operator (AEO) since the start of December, the company said Wednesday.    Yusen was granted AEO status for freight forwarding, customs brokerage and warehouse operation. The certification allows Yusen exemptions from some customs procedures, as it’s recognized officially as a logistics service provider that complies with laws and regulations and manages cargo appropriately. &nbs...

Monday, January 07, 2013

   Oracle on Monday released the latest update of its Oracle Transportation Management (OTM) and Global Trade Management (GTM) systems.    The release is the 11th update of the two key supply chain modules in the last seven years since Oracle acquired transportation software provider G-Log.    On the transportation management side, the update to OTM includes enhancements to fleet management, transportation sourcing, and transportation business intelligence, including augmen...

Friday, January 04, 2013

   U.S. Customs officers at Miami International Airport seized about 181,000 counterfeit pills of Viagra in two cargo shipments in September and December, the agency said.    The airline's cargo manifest described the shipment as "pharmaceutical products," but import specialists determined they were not legitimately produced. The domestic value of the shipments was about $3.2 million.

Monday, December 31, 2012

   U.S. Customs officers seized almost 214 pounds of khat on Dec. 21 shipped as air freight from Doha, Qatar.    The drug was listed on the airline's cargo manifest as "wood coffee tables" and had a street value of about $30,000, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.    Khat is a green, leafy plant typically grown in the Arabian Peninsula and chewed for its amphetamine-like effect. It contains cathine and cathinone, which are considered controlled substances in the U...

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

   The United States and Russia have agreed to an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Action Plan to improve IPR protection and enforcement.    The IPR Action Plan addresses priority areas including combating IPR infringement over the Internet and strengthening IPR enforcement.     “Agreement on the IPR Action Plan represents a significant step at a historic time in our bilateral economic relationship,” said U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a statement Friday. “With...

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

   The global on-demand shipping and logistics software developer CargoSmart has signed an agreement with the Nippon Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System (NACCS Center) to enable ocean carriers and non-vessel operating common carriers to comply with Japan Customs’ newly enacted Advance Filing Rules .    Japan’s legislature enacted the new advanced filing rules in March of this year, requiring vessel operators or NVOs to electronically submit information to Japan Customs on ma...

Monday, December 17, 2012

   U.S. Customs and Border Protection will allow duty drawback claims to be made on imported merchandise that was damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Sandy , according to a Sandler Travis & Rosenberg Trade Report.    ST&R said the importer "will have to provide documentation with details about the condition of the merchandise as well as any insurance claims filed. If the importer has been reimbursed for duties and taxes via an insurance claim the merchandise is no...

Monday, December 17, 2012

   A New Jersey man on Friday was arrested for illegally trafficking in narwhal tusks and associated money laundering crimes, the Justice Department said.    On Nov. 14, a federal grand jury sitting in Bangor, Maine, returned an indictment that was partially unsealed Friday upon the arrest of Andrew L. Zarauskas of Union, N.J. The indictment also names Jay G. Conrad of Lakeland, Tenn., who was summoned to appear in the District of Maine on Jan. 3.    The indictment charges C...