GHY Tradelines

(Nelson Balido — Security Debrief)

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin last Thursday announced his resignation effective December 30. For folks who monitor border trade and security issues, this wasn’t exactly a surprise. But it was still a disappointment.

In March 2010, President Obama appointed Mr. Bersin CBP commissioner through a recess appointment (when Congress was out of session). This was a case of the president having grown tired of the Senate Finance Committee’s failure to do its job and act on the president’s formal nomination of Mr. Bersin to lead an agency that is critical to the country’s security and economic health.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus convened his committee in May 2010 to consider the Bersin nomination. Unfortunately, very little of the hearing focused on Mr. Bersin’s qualifications and the pressing need to confirm the president’s nomination for an agency that, as Sen. Baucus said in his opening remarks, “is the face of America.” [...]

While I’m disappointed that Mr. Bersin didn’t get a chance to continue as commissioner, it would not be accurate to say that the trade community is saddled with a consolation prize. It’s just the opposite.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano made the right choice in naming deputy commissioner David Aguilar as the new acting commissioner and Tom Winkowski, who currently heads CBP’s field operations, as the acting deputy commissioner. Read more here.
 

(CBSA)

1. The purpose of this notice is to advise importers, customs brokers and service providers that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has amended the Health of Animals Regulations with respect to the importation of aquatic animals (finfish, molluscs and crustaceans).

2. Effective December 10, 2011, there are new requirements for importations into Canada of all aquatic animals listed in Schedule III of the Health of Animals Regulations.

3. Although the new requirements are effective as of December 10, 2011, the CFIA’s Stream of Commerce Policy allows for a one year transition period (to December 10, 2012) after which the import permit requirements will be enforced. During the transition period, compliance actions will be on an educational basis only. The new importation requirements for aquatic animals (finfish, molluscs and crustaceans) are described on the CFIA Web site.

4. All changes to requirements with respect to Harmonized System (HS) codes, Other Government Department (OGD) codes, origin and end uses have been incorporated into the CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).

Read more »

(CFIA)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has implemented policy directive D-11-01: Phytosanitary Requirements for Plants for Planting and Fresh Branches to Prevent the Entry and Spread of Anoplophora spp. It has done this to prevent the Anoplophora species of wood-boring beetles (such as the Asian long-horned beetle and the citrus long-horned beetle from being introduced into Canada in order to protect Canada’s plant resource base.

For more information click here.
 

(International Freighting Weekly – Pete Goldin)

New trusted shipper programme matches US C-TPAT

Mexico has implemented a voluntary trusted shipper programme to expedite border crossings for US cargo.  Nuevo Esquema de Empresas Certificadas (NEEC) matches the U.S. Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT).

C-TPAT is a clearance programme for low-risk shipments entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico that eases processing for commercial carriers at land border ports.  Key benefits of both NEEC and C-TPAT include access to dedicated lanes, fewer inspections and reduced delays at the border.

To become certified by NEEC, U.S. shippers must have been conducting foreign trade for at least five years and must meet Mexico’s minimum standards for supply chain security.

Mexico’s Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, José Kuribrena, said: “Thanks to this programme, moving goods across the border will be easier and faster, shipments will be better protected and import export times will improve.  This will increase the level of competitiveness of participating companies, and along with that, the competitiveness and logistics capacity of the country.” Read more here.
 

(WebMD Health News – Daniel J. DeNoon)

The USDA [December 21] announced two new rules to make U.S. beef safer.

The announcement accompanied the first report of the two-year-old Food Safety Working Group, led by the White House and staffed by agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Taking effect in 2012, the new rules:

• Declare “adulterated” and unfit for sale any beef that tests positive for any shigella toxin-producing E. coli bacteria. Current rules cover only a single strain of the potentially deadly bug, yet the other strains cause about 112,000 illnesses each year.

• Begin a “test and hold” policy for beef. Beef lots selected for testing will be withheld from market until test results show them to be free of germs and drug residues. Under the current system, beef that tests positive for bacteria or contaminants has to be recalled. The FDA estimates that the test-and-hold policy would have prevented 44 recalls from 2007 through 2009.

Read more here.