April 2014: ISF Enforcement Updates

The “interim final” rule that became effective on January, 26, 2009 has now – for practical purposes – become the final rule as to a great many ISF filings. However, for some time CBP and the trade have been discussing an urgent need for limited changes to Part 149 of the Customs Regulations, primarily to eliminate confusion as to ISF-5* and certain other filing responsibilities. The result has been the publication of a notice of proposed rulemaking in the July 6 Federal Register. The comment period expires on September 6, 2016. CBP has addressed the situation by drafting a new definition of […]

By Matt Zehner, VP, Surety Information & Analysis, Roanoke Insurance Group Inc. Recently, my colleague Colleen introduced Tariffs and Bond Stacking Liability and the need for importers to monitor bond sufficiency on a regular basis, with the goal to avoid a short-notice demand from CBP to terminate and file a larger bond.  One significant reason to planning the timing of when to make use of a larger continuous bond is that by reducing the number of times the bond amount changes over time, the bond principal is able to minimize the accumulation of bond liability.  There are ancillary benefits to importers when […]

Resources to Help Brokers Battle the Trade War While it’s no longer front page news fodder the tariff-centered trade wars continue. Change – if not outright volatility – continues to be an understatement as it relates to tariffs on goods imported to into the United States these days. Unfortunately businesses who have import activities and the customs brokers who assist them are caught in the middle, and they can become casualties of the ongoing trade wars. While U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is publishing plenty of resources, the dedicated people on the Customs Bond team at Roanoke are here […]