ACE and U.S. Customs in 2013: The Latest Regulations and Updates (Part 2 of a 3-Part Series)
    A Zepol guest blog by John M. Peterson, international trade/Customs law expert and partner at Neville Peterson LLP

Recently, at a meeting in Arizona, a Customs official showed me (without disclosing confidential data) how, with access to a single ACE database, Customs could identify every piece of in-bond merchandise moving by truck for export, show the number of days remaining until the bond period expired, and set up pre-expiration warnings. And Customs could then divide that data, by carrier, port, commodity, and in any of a variety of ways.

By law, all of the confidential information reported to Customs is protected from disclosure by the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905, a provision in the Federal criminal code. Government officials who disclose confidential commercial data could be fined, or, in particular cases, prosecuted and jailed.

One of the first things every Customs official learns is that the information reported by importers and others who transact “Customs business” is untouchable and exempt from disclosure.

    But recently, cracks have appeared in the wall of confidentiality surrounding Customs records, fortelling a troubling     trend, as various constituencies claim a need for access to confidential business information in ACS and ACE.


Customs’ new rule is based on Section 818(g) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA) (Pub. L. 112–81), which authorizes the agency to release otherwise confidential information to intellectual property rights holders who believe that importers are offering “counterfeit” versions of goods bearing their trademarks. The law authorizes Customs to provide rights holders with “information appearing on, and unredacted samples of, products and their packaging and labels, or photographs of such products, packaging, and labels”, so that the trademark owners may assist Customs in determining whether the products are prohibited from importation.

Customs’ interim regulation recognizes the competitive value of information provided to the agency in entry documents. “Information that is covered by the Trade Secrets Act and obtained from an importer, including the importer’s name and place of business, manufacturer’s identity, supply chain, and other confidential commercial or financial information, if disclosed, could provide insights into the importer’s business operations, processes, style of work, and income, all inuring to the importer’s competitive disadvantage.”

And Customs understands that a savvy competitor can glean quite a lot of information just by examining a sample or photograph of an imported product. Thus, the agency has noted, “product coding, such as serial numbers, and SKUs often incorporates information about where and when a product was manufactured, as well as other information that could allow one to identify information about the manufacture of the product. It is likewise possible that such information could directly or indirectly reveal the identity of wholesalers, exporters, or other parties in the importer’s supply chain and the timing and pricing of the transactions involving those entities.”

Still, Customs’ regulation allows the agency to release import information to trademark owners once the agency detains a shipment suspected of being a counterfeit version of the mark owner’s product. The information disclosed includes “information appearing on goods (and/or their retail packaging), and on images and samples, that are not redacted, i.e., images showing the merchandise (and/or its retail packaging) in its condition as presented for examination and samples (and/or its retail packaging) in their condition as so presented.” The disclosure of the information is intended to allow the trademark owner to assist Customs in the enforcement of the laws prohibiting the importation of counterfeit goods.

May imports increased for the second consecutive month, rising 3% compared to April, but decreasing 2.2% compared to May of last year. The United States imported 1.55 million TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) in May, which is a record for the year.

“For the first two months of the year imports were up 7% over 2012, but in the last five months imports are only up 0.04% overall,“ says Zepol’s CEO Paul Rasmussen. “With holiday orders being placed soon, we’ll likely see increased imports in the coming months.”

You can read more about May's imports in our Press Release Here.

 
Methodology:
Zepol’s data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne vessel goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as Freight Remaining on Board (FROB), and may contain other data anomalies.       

Zepol's latest report details the top imported and exported products for the United States. Covering the first quarter of the year, the report provides insights into what products are growing the fastest and the prices of the most expensive and least expensive goods.

What you'll find in the report:

1. Top products imported and exported.
2. The latest and greatest: Fastest growing products.
3. From ‘top-notch’ to ‘dirt-cheap.
4. We import THAT?! - Imports you probably didn't know about.

"Zepol’s latest report is an all-encompassing view of U.S. trade for the first quarter, pertinent to importers and exporters from all industries,” says Zepol’s CEO Paul Rasmussen. “The report is a must-read for businesses looking to get a grasp on recent U.S. trade trends as well as pin-point opportunities for future trade expansions.”

April imports have skyrocketed by 22.7% from March and are slightly above April of 2012 by 1.3%. Imports haven't been this high in the month of April since 2007 and there hasn't been this dramatic of an increase month-to-month in over a year.

“So far this year, U.S. imports are about 1% higher than last year and over 4% higher than 2011,” states Zepol’s CEO Paul Rasmussen, “Although 2013 is still 5% below 2007, the highest year recorded for ocean imports, 2013 could still turn out to have the highest import volume the United States has seen in the last five years.”

You can read more about April's imports in our Press Release Here.

 
Methodology:
Zepol’s data is derived from Bills of Lading entered into U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). This information represents the number of House manifests entered by importers of waterborne vessel goods. This is the earliest indicator for trade data available for the previous month’s import activity. The data excludes shipments from empty containers, excludes shipments labeled as Freight Remaining on Board (FROB), and may contain other data anomalies.