Conversations have started “weeks ago” between CBP and its partner government agencies regarding a potential government shutdown, said Diane Sabatino, executive assistant commissioner of CBP's Office of Field Operations, during an speech Sept. 12.
The executive at CBP responsible for the two pilot programs collecting data for Section 321 and Entry Type 86 told an audience of brokers that issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking on required data submissions for de minimis shipments is "of the highest priority at CBP right now." He repeated for emphasis, "The highest priority. From the commissioner down, it has been: 'When are we going to get the NPRM?'"
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's new automated message process for plants, vegetables and fruit imports (see 230707001) will help importers know more quickly if they have submitted a species or subspecies that doesn't exist, and, if accurate data is submitted ahead of arrival, should help cargo get released more quickly.
CBP released a series of frequently asked questions on de minimis as a follow up to a webinar the agency held in April on the subject (see 2304060046). The FAQs cover general information on Section 321, as well as questions on entry type 86 and CBP’s Section 321 data pilot.
CBP's upcoming regulatory changes around de minimis shipments will combine the best of the Section 321 data pilot and the best of the entry type 86 test, adding together "clearance speed of the entry type 86," CBP's E-Commerce and Small Business Branch Chief Christine Hogue said on a May 18 webinar discussion hosted by the World Trade Center Miami.
The inability of CBP to stop all goods made with Uyghur forced labor was one of the focuses of a trade hearing hosted on Staten Island by the House Ways and Means Committee, and when committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., asked a witness what more could be done to crack down, Uyghur activist Nury Turkel said the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act should be expanded to cover all of China.
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The CBP executive whose directorate covers trade remedies, intellectual property enforcement and e-commerce said that small-value shipments coming to the U.S. are not slipping through uninspected, just because there are no duties owed. Brandon Lord, executive director of the Trade Policy and Programs Directorate, said in an interview with International Trade Today at the CBP Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit: "There's a misconception that we don't target or screen de minimis -- it's not true. People throw around the phrase 'loophole.' It's not a loophole. De minimis is not a loophole."
When most people think of counterfeits in the U.S., they think of luxury fashion -- purses and watches -- but CBP also is concerned about safety issues from counterfeit medicines, sunscreen, baby formula and poorly made electronics whose lithium-ion batteries can cause fires.
Almost half of de minimis shipments last year were covered either by the Type 86 entry test or the Section 321 data pilot program, CBP said, but that doesn't mean that the government has a good grasp on what merchandise is entering in small packages.