INDUSTRY SEEKS TO SQUELCH FUTURE TALKS OF U.S. CUSTOMS SYSTEM USER FEES

   When the Clinton Administration recently suggested funding a portion of U.S. Customs’ future computer system through user fees, the import industry used its collective muscle in Congress to shoot it down.
   Customs is not expected to receive any funding for its Automated
Commercial Environment until 2001. This leaves plenty of time for the
Administration to resurrect the idea of systems user fees.
   The Coalition for Customs Automation Funding, a industry lobbying group of 200 companies and trade associations, doesn’t want to hear any more about user fees.
   "We’re going to launch an all-out campaign — no user fees," said Jon H. Kent, Washington representative for the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, a coalition member. "We want the government to come clean with the funding."
   Industry officials are also concerned that the expiration of the
existing Merchandise Processing Fee in 2001 will spawn a new user fee. This fee generates about $800,000 a year for the government.
   The coalition believes that any funding for ACE should come out of the government’s general funds.