Contact: Roger Clarke @ (310) 834-6458 For Immediate Release
Alan Klestadt @ (212) 973-7722
NCBFAA Says CPSC Proposal Not Ready for Prime Time
Washington, DC: In a July 26 letter, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, Inc., (NCBFAA) has told the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) that their certificate of compliance proposal is not ready for prime time. Because the CPSC proposal puts the onus for delivery of these certificates on the "importer of record," which includes customs brokers, who have no way of verifying their accuracy, the NCBFAA noted that it does nothing to further CPSC’s compliance goals.
“Reference to ‘customs brokers’ as a class of persons, who could potentially be responsible to provide product compliance information,” the NCBFAA wrote, “is inappropriate and should be removed from the final rule.”
The NCBFAA also took issue with the definition of the term “importer” as overly broad and suggested it be “modified to clarify that the certification obligation belongs to the ‘beneficial party in interest’ [i.e., party with a financial interest in the imported goods] who has knowledge about the imported product.”
Breaking with the current rule, the proposal “contemplates requiring that certificates of compliance for imported products be filed with CBP at the time of entry.” The NCBFAA cited substantial programming challenges to be overcome by both the government and the private sector before this requirement can become a reality as well as consideration of supply chain exigencies that would affect the ability of participate to provide this data in a timely manner.
According to the NCBFAA, “The plain reality is that neither the Commission, CBP nor the trade is prepared to manage the consequences of requiring the transmission of compliance certification data as a condition of entry for imported merchandise.”
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the NCBFAA represents more than 850 member companies with 100,000 employees in international trade - the nation's leading freight forwarders, customs brokers, ocean transportation intermediaries (OTIs), NVOCCs and air cargo agents, serving more than 250,000 importers and exporters. Established in 1897 in New York, NCBFAA is the effective national voice of the industry. Through its various committees, counsel and representatives, the Association maintains a close watch over legislative and regulatory issues that affect its members. It keeps them informed of these and other related issues through its weekly Monday Morning eBriefing, and various meetings and conferences throughout the year.
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