CBP Needs Your Help to Improve their Operations in the 21st Century Business Environment – COMMENT PERIOD NOW OPEN!

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has announced the re-opening of the public comment period on the six key themes identified by “The 21st Century Customs Framework” initiative. Now is your chance to provide feedback to CBP that can benefit your supply chain and the US economy.

CBP appreciates the need to stay modern to face the challenges of an evolving business landscape. To fulfill its mission, CBP is carrying out an initiative entitled “The 21st Century Customs Framework" which will seek to address and improve many aspects of CBP's trade mission to better position the agency to operate in the 21st Century business environment. Below are the topics CBP is seeking public input on:

Topics for Comments

CBP has identified key themes for which CBP seeks public input:

1.- Emerging Roles in the Global Supply Chain;

• What new roles in the global supply chain are unaccounted for in CBP's current legal framework? How should the agency account for these roles?
• How can CBP work with e-commerce platforms and carriers to identify and deter illicit shipments?
• How can new actors in the global supply chain work with CBP to improve trade security?

2.- Intelligent Enforcement;

• What technologies are useful in predicting violative activities and an entity's potential for violations?
• What tools or sources of information regarding CBP's compliance requirements have you found the most useful? What other resources can CBP provide to ensure that trade stakeholders understand CBP requirements?
• How can CBP improve violation referral systems and allegation processing?

3.- Cutting-Edge Technology;

• What emerging technologies are most important for CBP to monitor or adopt?
• What technologies are being adopted by the private sector that are incompatible with CBP's current legal or policy frameworks?
• What technologies on the horizon have the potential to be a disruptive force (enabling or challenging) within the trade ecosystem?

4.- Data Access and Sharing;

• What data would you like CBP to share with importers, and vice versa, to improve trade facilitation and enforcement?
• How can CBP's overall data sharing with trade stakeholders be improved?

5.- 21st Century Processes; and

• What specific import procedures or requirements can be improved or refined, and how?
• What are some international best practices (i.e., processes used by other customs agencies) that CBP should examine?

6.- Self-Funded Customs Infrastructure.

• Outside of the annual Congressional appropriations cycle, what mechanisms should CBP explore for consistent and timely funding for ACE enhancements?
• How could the fee collection process be streamlined, improved, or redesigned to more directly fund ACE enhancements?

The comment submission deadline is rapidly approaching:

• Comments must be submitted by April 11, 2019
• Comments must be submitted to Docket No. USCBP-2018-0045.

Based on our experience in submitting comments to respective dockets, we recommend comments contain strong support and persuasive evidence. If you would like to address any of the 6 key themes identified by CBP, contact DTL TODAY to start drafting your comment. Our Customs and International Trade Attorneys are available at 305-456-3830 or info@diaztradelaw.com.