NCBFAA OPPOSES IN-BOND PROVISION IN SENATE’s SEAPORT SECURITY BILL

NCBFAA OPPOSES IN-BOND PROVISION IN SENATEÆS SEAPORT SECURITY BILL    The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America has raised concern that proposed legislation in Congress to increase seaport security could threaten Customs’ in-bond program.
   In-bond shipments are imported merchandise that are allowed to transit the country without payment of duties and taxes until they are cleared by Customs at destination.
   Section 16 of the proposed legislation (S.1214), sponsored by Senators Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., and Bob Graham, D-Fla., would require that “all entries of goods, including in-bond entries, to provide the same information required for entries of goods released into the commerce of the United States … before the goods are released for shipment from the seaport of first arrival.”
   The NCBFAA said this level of detail hasn't been provided to Customs for in-bond shipments because the agency doesn’t require it. “This would greatly encumber in-bond transactions, adding cost and delay,” said Peter H. Powell Sr., president of the NCBFAA, last week at a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the seaport security bill. “In fact, we do not believe it would be overstated to say that this would threaten the entire in-bond movement system, with direct consequences to ‘just-in-time’ supply chain management.”
   The American Association of Port Authorities echoed the NCBFAA’s concerns, stating the provision regarding in-bond cargo could force more goods into Canadian seaports.
   Powell also criticized sections of the bill that called for securing entry points and controlling movements of trucks. He said this would produce a major slowdown in the movement of goods in the United States.