The Bureau of industry and Security posted the presentations from its annual conference held July 9-11 in Washington.

The Census Bureau posted the July issue of TradeSource, the agency's trade-focused newsletter. Among topics in this issue is a comparison of AESDirect Shipment Manager and ACE Export Reports. "Both tools were designed to assist exporters and agents in managing their export transactions, but each has its own purpose," said Maritza Torres and Mayumi Brewster of the Governments and Trade Management Division. ACE Export Reports "includes all shipment data that is found in the Automated Export System (AES)," while the Shipment Manger "is limited to shipments filed only in AESDirect." Another item in this issue examines the benefits of foreign-trade zones.

The Agriculture Department is asking for comments on the sanitary and phytosanitary standard (SPS) setting activities at the Codex Alimentarius Commission from July 20, 2018, to June 21, 2019, and June 21, 2019, to May 31, 2020. The notice provides a list of the standard-setting activities, as well as other types of Codex standards like commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice and revised texts. Attachment 1 to the notice sets forth the SPS standards under consideration or planned for consideration, as well as, for each SPS standard specified: (1) a description of the consideration or planned consideration of the standard; (2) whether the U.S. is participating or plans to participate in the consideration of the standard; (3) the agenda for U.S. participation, if any; and (4) the agency responsible for representing the U.S. with respect to the standard.

CBP will require ACE for reporting all in-bond exports, arrivals and diversions starting July 29, the agency said in a CSMS message. "CBP will no longer accept paper copies of the CBPF 7512 to perform arrival and export functionality," though air shipments will still be exempt from the requirements, it said. "An ACE edit will issue a rejection if these actions are not performed," CBP said. "At this time, no date is set for implementation of the provision requiring the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule number requirement for Immediate Transportation movements." The Automated In-Bond Processing Business Process document is the "official publication which provides both CBP and the trade community with guidance, requirements and responsibilities when processing in-bond cargo," the agency said.

Goods illegally exported through e-commerce is a subject of concern within CBP as there can be even less visibility with them than on the import side, said Daniel Randall, acting director within the Office of Field Operations at CBP, speaking June 27 at the American Association of Exporters and Importers Annual Conference in Washington. "CBP currently doesn't have the authority to collect export data," he said. "We collect export data under the [Commerce Department] authority" and the "requirements on the people who provide data are pretty loose," he said. The value of the goods has to be over $2,500 and "it's pretty much a self-declaration," he said. The main threat is with guns or gun parts, which can typically be detected through X-ray scanning, he said. Still, there's been an increase in sophistication in hiding such items for export in recent years, such as within auto parts shipments, he said. A combination of disguised goods and the self-declarations "makes things very difficult," he said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is creating a new exemption for green sea urchins of the species Strongylocentrotus droebachiensi from export licensing requirements, it said in a final rule. The new exemption applies to green sea urchins harvested in U.S. waters or imported for processing under a valid import license, FWS said. It is not available to violators of federal wildlife laws within the last five years, nor will it apply in states that have not submitted information related to conservation and management or that fail to prove they’re engaged in conservation and management, FWS said. The final rule takes effect June 25.

CBP is pushing back by another 30 days the change of Automated Export System codes 227 and 007 from “informational” to “fatal,” it said in a CSMS message. Code 227, Forwarding Agent Party Missing, and Code 007, Header Filer ID Type Must be E or D, had been set to transition to fatal errors on June 22. They will now become AES fatal errors on July 20.

CBP is requesting comments by July 15 on an existing information collection for exports of self-propelled vehicles, it said in a notice. CBP proposes to extend the expiration date of this information collection without a change to the burden hours or information collected.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new reporting requirements for eight chemicals under significant new use rules. The proposed SNURs would require notification to EPA at least 90 days in advance of a new use by importers, manufacturers or processors. Importers of chemicals subject to these proposed SNURs would need to certify their compliance with the SNUR requirements should these proposed rules be finalized, EPA said. Exporters of these chemicals would become subject to export notification requirements. Comments on the proposed SNURs are due July 11.

CBP hopes to kick off implementation of pre-departure electronic export manifest filing by mid-July with the publication of a new business process document, said Jim Swanson, CBP director of cargo and security controls, at the May 30 meeting of the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee in Laredo, Texas. Once it’s published, CBP will be able to begin reaching out to the 30-40 “tested stakeholders” that have been fully tested but are waiting on operational guidance, to “get them operational,” he said. Swanson has said pre-departure manifest is a key pre-condition to bringing back post-departure filing of Electronic Export Information (EEI) (see 1903080037).