IMPORTER LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE CUSTOMS PROCEDURES LANDS IN HOUSE

IMPORTER LEGISLATION TO MODERNIZE CUSTOMS PROCEDURES LANDS IN HOUSE    A group of the country’s top 21 importers has secured a place on Capitol Hill for its proposed legislation to modernize U.S. Customs import procedures.
   The legislation (H.R. 4337), which was drafted by the U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization, was picked up in the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade last week. Representative Bill Thomas, R-Calif., ranking majority leader on the committee, sponsored the bill.
   BACM, which comprises importers including Target, BP Amoco and Sara Lee, said its legislation includes technical changes to Customs regulations and policies which will bring the agency in line with the 1993 Customs Modernization Act.
   “These are non-controversial changes that we’re asking for,” said James P. Finnegan, manager of international trade and compliance for Sony Electronics and BACM chairman. “We’re simply finishing what’s been started by the Mod Act seven to eight years ago.”
   The areas covered in H.R. 4337 are:
   * Filing minimal data for cargo release.
   * Periodic filing of aggregate import information.
   * Periodic payment of duties, taxes and fees.
   * Reasonable correction of import data.
   * Netting and offsetting of duty under-declarations and over-declarations.
   The group also says its legislation is closely tied to Customs’ development of a future computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment.
   The group plans to intensify its lobbying efforts in Congress during the coming weeks. “We will submit sister legislation on the Senate side,” Finnegan said.
   BACM will continue to work with other industry associations, such as the Joint Industry Group, National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America and the American Association of Exporters and Importers.