Operational Guidelines on UFPLA are not the Final Word
Last Friday we sent out a memo touting U.S Customs and Border Protections Guidelines for the Uyghur Forced Labor Act (UFPLA). These are not the instructions that we have all been waiting for. These are actually operational guidelines that summarize much of what CBP has been presenting on their many webinars. They are a very good primer to get ready for the UFPLA start up on June 21, 2022 and have a lot of information. However, the final instructions as required in the Act are expected to come out on Monday, June 21, 2022.
The final instructions will have much more detailed information that should include specific information and documentation needed to request an exemption from UFLPA enforcement for goods presumably deemed in violation of the Act. It should also have an entity list to help the trade decide on their trading partners. We will send out the link for this document as soon as we see it.
For those of you who have not seen the operational guidelines from last week, they can be found on CBP’s website.
Congress Passes OSRA
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and is now on its way to the President’s desk. President Biden is expected to sign this legislation into law on June 16, 2022. This bill revises requirements governing ocean shipping. It will increase the authority of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) for oversight for unfair practices in the shipping lanes and to promote the growth and development of U.S. exports through an ocean transportation system that is competitive, efficient, and economical.
The bill requires the FMC to investigate complaints about excessive detention and demurrage charges charged by common ocean carriers and U.S. terminals. It calls for the FMC to determine whether those charges are reasonable, and the FMC can order refunds and/or issue fines for unreasonable charges. It also calls for carriers and terminals to set up problem resolution units to resolve complaints and will require the carriers and terminals to show how the demurrage and/or detention charges were calculated.
For exports, this bill prohibits common ocean carriers, marine terminal operators, or ocean transportation intermediaries from unreasonably refusing cargo space when available or resorting to other unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods. There is more included in this bill. You can review all the details of this 40-page document that can be found by clicking here.
ILWU an PMA Commit to Negotiations
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) met with President Biden during his trip to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this past week. Part of the conversation was about the soon to expire collective bargaining agreement. The agreement is set to expire on July 1, 2022, and the two groups have had discussions that began in May. Both the PMA and the ILWU agree that a new contract deal will not be reached by July 1. The expiration of an agreement is not unusual for these negotiations. Cargo operations are expected to continue after the expiration of the current contract and neither side is preparing for a strike or lockout. Both sides have expressed their commitment to the President.
Carmichael Web Portal has been enhanced with many New Features
Carmichael is very happy to announce the addition of many new features to our Web Portal. These new features include: Multifactor Authentication, Self-Serve User Management, Standard APIs, ability to chat with our staff through our portal, ability to upload documents, Shipment Tagging, New Alerting System, and many more!!! These new features will be deployed on July 1st. Though most of these features are fairy intuitive to use, we plan to conduct a webinar to formally introduce and demonstrate how to take advantage of these new features. The invitation to this webinar will be sent shortly.
2022 Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit
Will you be in attendance at this year’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2022 Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit in Anaheim, CA.? If so, Carmichael International Service is hosting a dinner for clients and we’re hoping you can join us!
Daniel Meylor, Manager, Customs Administration; Danielle Brown, Director, Key Account Management; Joseph Lee, V.P. Commercial Brokerage; and Todd Boice, President, will be in attendance and would love to see you there.
If you are interested in joining Carmichael for dinner or if you would like more information about the dinner, please contact Danielle Brown (moc.tenmracnull@belleinad). We look forward to hearing from you!