Congress Enacts First Major Customs Bill in over 20 Years
International Trade Update
President Obama signed the bipartisan Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTE) on February 24. This is the first major customs legislation enacted since the Customs Modernization Act, Title VI of the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Pub. L. 103-182 (1993). The TFTE focuses on facilitating legitimate trade and enforcing existing trade laws, such as those relating to intellectual property and trade remedies. More…

NEWS FLASH: USCG tells shippers not to expect delays to SOLAS container weight regulations
United States Coast Guard officials made it clear at a Federal Maritime Commission hearing Thursday in Washington, D.C. the shipping industry will have to comply with International Maritime Organization verified gross mass requirements on July 1.

Fitch warns weight regulations can raise US ports’ congestion
Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings warned that the new container weighing regulations set to take effect on July 1, 2016 are generating uncertainty at US ports and can raise congestion. More…

Carriers respond to European Commission’s pricing concerns
Fifteen of the biggest shipping lines have offered to reform the way they announce price changes more…

More on ACE…
ACE Mandatory Use Dates (What are the ACE Mandatory Use dates?)
CBP is working to complete and deploy core trade processing capabilities in ACE by December 2016, a timeline supported by the White House Executive Order issued on February 19, 2014. As part of this transition, several mandatory dates have been established requiring trade users to file electronic data to ACE in lieu of legacy systems. More…