CUSTOMS: BROKERS SHOULD CONSIDER “NUTS AND BOLTS” OF ERP
CUSTOMS: BROKERS SHOULD CONSIDER “NUTS AND BOLTS” OF ERP
As the country’s four leading import industry groups prepare for another round of talks over reforming the import entry process, U.S. Customs officials said customs brokers should closely consider the “nuts and bolts” of what this reform will mean to their business.
Customs proposed revising its import entry process in December 1999. The proposal is in its third draft form.
The Customs Reform Coalition, of which the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America is a member, has been the leading industry reviewer of so-called ERP III. Other groups in the coalition are the U.S. Business Alliance for Customs Modernization, American Association of Exporters and Importers and the Joint Industry Group. The coalition members will hold a meeting in Washington on March 20-21 to sharpen their consensus on the reform effort.
“While we may agree on the need for reform, we don’t yet agree on all the details,” said Charles Winwood, acting commissioner of Customs. “I know — we all know — that big ideas are often accompanied by debate.”
“Do we have a perfect proposal? Probably not,” he added. “But we know we have to start somewhere.”
The brokers have expressed concern with several areas of ERP, such as corrective period for entries and protests. “We’re proposing a monthly cycle with no interest,” said John Peterson, manager of C.H. Powell Co.’s office in Los Angeles and one of NCBFAA’s leading negotiators in ERP. “Interest makes no sense in our business.”
Customs has said that ERP will be a process of give and take. “Sure, we’d like to put everything the trade wants into entry revision, or as much of it as possible,” Winwood said. “But that’s not our decision alone to make. We have to balance expectations with reality. And the reality is that Customs isn’t the only agency or regulatory side that has a vested interest in this process. Others, including the Census Bureau, have a big stake in it also.”
ERP is also an important component for Customs’ future computer system, the Automated Commercial Environment, which is scheduled for development later this year.
“We will not be able to fully leverage the power of ACE if it is constrained by outdated rules,” Winwood said. “It would be like running a Ferrari on a go-cart track.”
But Winwood added that ACE will be a flexible system. “If we can’t get 100 percent of what we and the trade believe we need, there’s nothing wrong with getting a solid 70 percent or more for now,” he said. “This isn’t an all-or-nothing proposal. It’s a chance to make fundamental changes in the entry process before we program ACE.”