ACI sponsors import compliance forum

ACI sponsors import compliance forum    The American Conference Institute, a provider of business information to the legal and international trade industry, will sponsor an import compliance forum March 21-22 at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington.
   'Now that Customs and Border Protection has warned importers that it plans to increase enforcement initiatives, U.S. companies must focus their attention as never before on the need for rigorous internal controls on the import process, as well as internal auditing and systems checks,' ACI said in a statement.
   These issues and other developments will be discussed at the forum, intended as a venue 'where government and industry can meet to overcome the challenges posed by a heightened interest in enforcement issues,' said Leigh Gilmore, president of ACI.
   The forum will feature input from 23 corporate customs compliance executives from Target, Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Williams-Sonoma, PepsiCo, IBM, Aventis, Boeing, Hasbro and other companies.
   Government officials who will also participate include Robert Allen, field director, regulatory audit, in CBP's field office in Long Beach, Calif.; Charles D. Ressin, chief, penalties branch, in CBP's office of regulations and rulings, and Marcy M. Forman, director, office of investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
   The conference will include sessions covering such topics as CBP's Automated Commercial Environment, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, and the Importer Self-Assessment Program.
   For more information, contact ACI at 41 West 25th St., 9th Floor, New York, N.Y., 10010, or visit https://www.americanconference.com/import .