CUSTOMS, INDUSTRY TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF ERP TALKS THIS WEEK

CUSTOMS, INDUSTRY TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF ERP TALKS THIS WEEK    U.S. Customs and industry leaders will meet in Washington this week to continue their negotiations on how to modernize the country’s aging import entry process.
   The agency proposed revising the import entry process in December 1999. Customs released a third draft of its Entry Revision Project for the industry’s review last November at the Customs Trade Symposium in Washington, and scheduled three meetings to review the proposal this spring. The first ERP meeting was held in early January.
   Representatives from 15 of the country’s leading industry groups, such as the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization, Joint Industry Group, American Association of Exporters and Importers, and National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America, will attend the two-day meeting, Feb. 13-14.
   “We’re going to drill down into the post entry summary process,” said John A. Durant, director of Customs’ Commercial Rulings Division, and principal author of the ERP proposal. “By the end of the session, we hope to reach some consensus.”
   During the meeting, Customs and the industry will consider a range of options to solve entry processing problems. At the end of the three meetings, Customs intends to hold a general public meeting with the industry.