U.S. Customs and Border Protection October 2023 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This document amends the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations to reflect the elimination of CBP's collection of interest specific to debit vouchers in order to enable CBP to efficiently include debit voucher bills in CBP's automated billing process in the Automated Commercial Environment. As a result of this change, CBP will automatically issue debit voucher bills, inclusive of all applicable interest accruing on such bills and dishonored payment fees. Interest on the debited amount will accrue from the date of the issuance of a debit voucher bill, and no longer from the date of the debit voucher.

On August 30, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in the Federal Register that CBP would conduct a Declaration Zone test at cruise terminal facilities at participating sea ports of entry (POEs) that would run for approximately two years. This document announces that CBP is extending the test period for an additional two years. In addition to the extension, this document announces that CBP intends to expand the Declaration Zone test to up to eighteen additional sea POEs, as well as to travelers being processed in Simplified Arrival for open loop cruises. The Declaration Zone test allows for streamlined processing by allowing a demonstrative initial declaration for arriving travelers in lieu of an oral or written declaration of all articles brought into the United States to a CBP officer as required by current CBP regulations.

This document adopts as final, without change, interim amendments made to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations by CBP Decision 16-26, as modified by a subsequent technical correction, CBP Decision 19-11. The interim amendments established the Centers of Excellence and Expertise (Centers) as a permanent organizational component of the agency. The interim amendments shifted certain trade functions to the Centers and identified other trade functions jointly carried out by port directors and Center directors. The interim amendments provided broad, centralized decision-making authority to the Centers to enable the Centers to facilitate trade, reduce transaction costs, increase compliance with applicable import laws, and achieve uniformity of treatment at ports of entry for identified industries.