Trade Court Rules to Protect Brokers

(Journal of Commerce Online – R.G.Edmonson)

Customs may not revoke entry filer code without due process

Customs and Border Protection may not revoke a broker’s entry filer code without providing some form of due process, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled on Monday.

USCIT Judge Richard K. Eaton ruled Customs officials in San Diego in October 2008 improperly deactivated customs broker Guillermo Lizarraga’s filer code for alleged “misuse” without stating the reasons, and giving him no chance to respond.

Brokers need the code to electronically file entries through the Automated Broker Interface in the Automated Commercial System. Ninety-six percent of all entries are made through ABI, so loss of the filer code effectively puts a broker out of business. Read more here.

Brokers to Play Key Role in US Customs System

(Journal of Commerce Online – R.G.Edmonson)

Account management to aggregate data for business

Customs brokers will play a key role in getting small and medium sized businesses into a Customs and Border Protection account management system, Commissioner Alan Bersin told members of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America on Monday.

Bersin said handling the imports of the United States as millions of lines of separate entries was an outdated practice that Customs must change.

“We have to aggregate this data and approach it in a simplified fashion, and that’s what management by account is intended to accomplish,” Bersin said. “It strikes me that the customs broker is absolutely critical in making account management available to small and medium-sized businesses.

“It’s going to require that we collaborate and figure out how the customs broker can help perform the aggregating tasks that will be required,” Bersin said. “It is a new set of responsibilities but I think your association recognized from the beginning that this is an evolving profession.” Read more here.

Customs Brokers Oppose Agent Requirement

(Journal of Commerce – R.G.Edmonson)

Proposed foreign manufacturers act could backfire, say forwarders

Customs brokers are asking the House Ways and Means Committee to weigh in on legislation that would require foreign manufacturers to have registered agents in the U.S. to represent them in state and federal courts.

In a letter to the committee’s leadership Jeff Coppersmith, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, said that requiring foreign companies to have a U.S. proxy to appear in legal proceedings would prompt other countries to reciprocate.

“It will be very difficult and expensive for small and medium-sized companies to maintain registered agents in all the foreign markets to which they export,” Coppersmith said. U.S. companies would also face uncertainty in the way foreign legal systems would treat them.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee last week took testimony on the proposed Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act. The bill is supported by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which says lack of a U.S. agent makes it difficult to bring foreign manufacturers to account for unsafe products.

C-TPAT Re-Validation Preparation – November 17

(NCBFAA)

US Customs and Border Protection are obligated to re-validate C-TPAT members at least once every three years. Many companies give a huge sigh of relief after their initial validation, and then seem to put the C-TPAT program on the “back burner”. Before you know it, it is time for re-validation. CBP calls to advise that they will be conducting a re-validation. Your boss, of course, comes to you to begin the miracle process of being prepared for the re-validation. You have no idea where to start. That may even be why you decided to attend this webinar.

After this presentation you will be armed with the necessary information to prepare for this visit, as well as being prepared to discuss the process with senior management. So, hold on tight as we take a journey through the process and preparation of re-validating your C-TPAT security profile. Here’s to border security…and away we go!

Please join us for:

C-TPAT Re-Validation Preparation
Offered by: NCBFAA Educational Institute
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Noon - 1:30 p.m. ET
Cost: $50.00 per member participant$75.00 per non-member participant1.5
CCS points for attendance
Presenter: Randi Keenan, Senior Consultant, ARI

To participate, simply go to http://www.ncbfaa.org and select “C-TPAT Re-Validation Preparation” under “Upcoming Events.” Members: be sure to log in first to take advantage of the lower member rate.

Thank you, and we look forward to your participation!

Cynthia D. (Jerome) Allen, LCB, CCS
NCBFAA Educational Institute Director
1200 18th Street, NW, #901 Washington, DC 20036
Office Phone: (202) 466-0222 • Cell Phone: (313) 330-8630

Brokers Broadsided by Proposed FDA Registration

(American Shipper)

U.S. customs brokers say they were broadsided by proposed legislative provisions in the 2009 Food Safety Enhancement Act that would require them to be registered along with importers in an effort to strengthen the Food and Drug Administration’s oversight of the nation’s food supply.

“These provisions surfaced only last week, were preceded by no consultation with our industry and, we are told, may go to subcommittee mark-up next week,” said Mary Jo Muoio, president of the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman on Thursday.

Muoio noted to the chairman that “the committee’s draft treats customs brokers as if they are importers.”

She further added that the committee ignored existing regulatory and licensing requirements already long in place for the customs broker industry. The draft legislation “attempts to erect a duplicate regulatory framework that distorts the role of the broker,” she said. Read more here.