INDUSTRY COALITION STEPS FORWARD IN ERP TALKS WITH CUSTOMS

INDUSTRY COALITION STEPS FORWARD IN ERP TALKS WITH CUSTOMS    A coalition of the largest import industry groups are moving closer to providing U.S. Customs with a plan of action to reform the country’s aging import entry process.
   At a two-day meeting this week in Washington, representatitives of the American Association of Exporters and Importers, U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization, Joint Industry Group and National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America issued its critique of Customs’ third version of the Entry Revision Project.
   On the issue of cargo release and entry tracks, the industry groups generally support the “four-track” system for cargo release with some minor changes in wording, such as the term “sanctioned importer” in Track 1 (live entry with payment) should be clarified as importers who are delinquent on duty payments, and importers of quota merchandise should be allowed to participate in Track 4 (release on minimal data).
   The coalition continues to support the periodic payment of duties, taxes and fees to Customs by “severing” the link between specific entries and payments.
   “The Average Daily Balance is overly complicated and cumbersome,” the coalition said. “We would strongly prefer a concept similar to the Semi-Monthly Statement option, combined with Import Activity Summary Statement, provided that certain changes are made.”
   Those changes include semi-monthly payments estimated by the importer or its broker using its own internal financial processes; interest would be owed only if the total of the two semi-monthly payments is less than the duties owed on the entries in that period; and that the already authorized Import Activity Summary Statement must be implemented. The coalition also supports the continued use of the Automated Clearinghouse system to pay duties to Customs.
   The coalition endorses a corrective period within entry summaries or Import Activity Summary Statements without incurring liability, but with less restrictive deadlines to make corrections than what Customs had proposed in ERP III. The coalition also recommended that a system for post-corrective period corrections be maintained and once entries have become final that they should still be subject to protest.
   At the meeting, the coalition requested that the next ERP meeting, scheduled for March 20-21, be set aside for the industry.
   “The importers need to consider and understand the details of the process so that we’re all reading from the same page,” said James P. Finnegan, director of international trade and compliance for Sony Corp., and chairman of BACM. “We are seeing progress on the issues and have had very good dialogue with agency officials.”
   Customs agreed. “We’re not ramming ERP down anyone’s throat,” said John Durant, director of Customs’ Commercial Rullings Division, and principal author of the ERP proposal. “I remain optimistic that in the end we’ll find a great deal of common ground.”