On Thursday, February 11 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST, NCBFAA and the APHIS ACE Team will be hosting a webinar for the “Implentation of APHIS-Core in ACE”. They will address what to do and how brokers can manage the APHIS Message Set.
Register now here.
On Thursday, February 11 from 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST, NCBFAA and the APHIS ACE Team will be hosting a webinar for the “Implentation of APHIS-Core in ACE”. They will address what to do and how brokers can manage the APHIS Message Set.
Register now here.
The National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) announced that USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS) is going live with electronic filing in ACE. Now, APHIS can be filed electronically through the Customs ACE system, and soon it will be mandatory.
Learn more at the APHIS website, https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/importexport
The APHIS ACE Team is ready and available to work with you. Email the ACE Team at ace.itds@usda.gov
Frequently asked questions can be found here.
Attention flooring importers!
Chinese flooring manufacturers found “dumping” flooring to the U.S. with their very low prices for flooring destined to the U.S. American flooring companies had sued for higher duties (anti-dumping duties) to be placed against certain Chinese imports due to these unfair, low prices, and were successful. The U.S. put into effect an antidumping law that imposes an extra duty to some Chinese imports.
For more information, read Bloomberg Law’s article here.
Importers: ensure your entries are filed as antidumping if this applies to your product. Using CustomsNow, our clients have the ability to query both country/HTS combinations to confirm dumping duties. Learn more here.
Reserve your spot for the CBP Trade Symposium happening on July 21-22, 2021 at the Hilton Anaheim, Anaheim California. Sells out fast!
CNI will keep you updated.
On December 15,2020, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that the 2021 Customs Broker Triennial Status Report and Fee Submission has begun. Licensed Customs brokers will have until February 28, 2021, to file a status report with CBP.
Every three years, licensed brokers must pay a fee of $100 when filing a status report with CBP. They must include whether they meet the requirements of 19 CFR § 111.11 and 111.19 and verify they have not taken part in any misconduct that could result in suspension. They must also state in a status report if they are “actively engaged” in CBP business, meaning they are “currently transacting or have recently transacted CBP business on behalf of others as a sole proprietor…” (CBP).
If the Triennial Status Report is not submitted on time, Customs brokers will have their licenses suspended and is subject to being revoked.
Brokers can submit their Status Reports online through the eCBP portal.
According to the final rule published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2020, The U.S. Department of Commerce put into effect a new system- Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis (AIM). Beginning on January 25, 2021, licenses will now be required in order to import all Aluminum covered products.
This new system will be similar to the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System (SIMA). Therefore, users who have an existing SIMA account can apply for their aluminum licenses there. If you already have a steel license, you may not add aluminum HTS codes. Instead, you must apply for a distinct aluminum license. The aluminum license form will become available on January 4, 2021.
New users can create an account here.
Learn more about the new AIM system here.
On November 7, 2019 the Office of the U.S. Representative (USTR) released a notice granting and additional 36 exclusions from the 301 China duties.
Prior, on October 28, 2019, the Federal Register notice (84 FR 57802) was issued notating that these exclusions would be retroactive to September 24, 2018 and extends through August 7, 2020.
CBP also issued CSMS #40564257, dated November 8th, 2019, providing guidance on filing List 3 product exclusions. Per the CSMS, the exclusions are available for any product that meets the description as set out in Annex A to Federal Register Notice 84 FR 57803, regardless of whether the importer filed an exclusion request. Further, the scope of each exclusion is governed by the scope of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) 10-digit headings and product descriptions in the Annex; not by the product descriptions set out in any particular request for exclusion.
As a reminder, for refunds, post-summary correction (PSC) filings can be made by the importer directly or any licensed broker; not just party who filed the original entry.
On September 28, 2019, CBP deployed the new Entry Type 86 for Section 321 (low-valued shipments) through ACE.
Trade users will benefit from this enhancement by being able to now electronically transmit low-valued shipment data to Customs. Using entry type 86 transaction, which includes importer and/or consignee information, the entry is transmitted via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) into ACE, and filers will receive electronic release messages back from CBP for these low value shipments.
Filing an entry type 86 to obtain release of low-valued Section 321 shipments is only a test; it is not mandatory. All current Section 321 clearance processes remain in effect.
What will change in ACE?
Technical questions about the new entry Type 86 functionality can be addressed by a Client Representative or the ACE Account Service Desk (ASD) at 1-866-530-4172 or ACE.Support@cbp.dhs.gov.
A Test Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2019.
CBP Technical Resources can be found here.
CustomsNow offers this functionality. Contact us for questions!
With the transition to ACE over the last few years, one of the big benefits was the improvement of the Post Summary Corrections(PSC) filing process. With that, importers were looking forward to correcting entries quickly, easily, and less-expensively, regardless of the original filer.
However, last year, CustomsNow identified a bug in ACE which was preventing importers from filing a PSC for an entry that was originated by their 3rd party broker. We worked closely with CBP to help resolve, and finally, we’re happy to announce that this issue was recently fixed.
Now, many of our import clients are centralizing their correction process by either self-filing PSCs directly with Customs or by using CNI consulting to file on their behalf. This is especially helpful to manage refunds for those lucky enough to have a China Section 301 Exclusion or other refund situation.
The process is simple; run an ACE report, make corrections to the data, upload using CNI’s Import Upload Tool, and transmit to CBP. Results are returned in seconds and ACE data is updated immediately. There is even an “Accelerated Liquidation Requested” box for refunds to request that the entry liquidate within the 2-week cycle. Any follow up requests for documents from CBP are simply uploaded and transmitted via DIS. Learn more here.
If you’d like to discuss, please contact us at sales@customsnow.com.
Sincerely, CustomsNow™
According to this Federal Register notice, CBP is proposing amendments to the current broker verification regulations, and WOW!, it’s going to be a lot of additional work for the broker. This proposed amendment will require customs brokers to collect certain information from importers to enable the broker to verify the identity of an importer.
CBP believes this additional scrutiny will help to prevent fraud and impede the creation of shell companies by importers looking to evade CBP laws.
The following information is what CBP is suggesting, at minimum:
The comment period is open to the public until October 15th, 2019 and may be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal here.