With the ACE February 28th deadline looming, many filers are reporting various technical problems involving FDA processing that are resulting in extreme issues across the board. To outline some examples: Messages are not returning to the filer’s software at all. The FDA Review is received, but there is no follow up message Rejected FDA entries […]

A settlement was reached by the International Longshoreman’s Association and the New York Stevedores Association at 7 pm on January 29th. As a result of the quick settlement, the New York and New Jersey Ports will resume normal operations on Monday, February 1st, 2016.

As of 10:53 this morning, longshoremen walked off the job at New York and New Jersey Ports due to an ongoing labor dispute. As a result, port officials are not allowing any new trucks to enter the New York and New Jersey ports. The Port Authority is doing everything in its power to resume port […]

A chemical explosion at the Santos Port in Brazil has led to the evacuation of workers and the closure of several terminals. The explosion occurred Thursday evening as more than a dozen flammable containers combusted, causing toxic smoke to be strewn across the city. Though the fire has been entirely extinguished, a large, potentially toxic […]

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced a new tariff for calculating container demurrage, detention, and per diem effective December 5, 2015 for all U.S. ports. Demurrage is defined as the free time that the carrier and terminal provide for a container once it discharges the vessel or arrives at the inland rail dept. Detention is also […]

How will ACE affect AES Direct Portal for exporter? Within the coming few months, the AESDirect Portal will go live in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). All exporters must have an ACE account to access the new AESDirect system, to be known as Refactored AESDirect. Accounts will not transition from the existing system. The existing […]

Check out our ACE FAQ guide to help answer your import and export questions! What is ACE? The Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) is the primary system or “single window” for the international trade community to submit import and export data to communicate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other participating government agencies.  CBP and […]

Vessels transiting through the Panama Canal have are now experiencing up to 10 day delays as the industry struggles to understand the cause and find a solution to the deteriorating conditions. According to the Journal of Commerce, adverse weather conditions and repairs to the existing locks are contributing factors. What is certain is that carriers […]

Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) is experiencing major disruptions at its Charleston, SC gateways. Many tracks have washed out, and many bridges have been deemed unsafe for passage due to the record rainfall and heavy flooding in the area. Norfolk Southern personnel are actively surveying the area and reporting that not all gates are operational.  At […]

Ministers of the 12 Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries concluded trading negotiations on October 4th, completing one of the most ambitious multilateral trade deals of the last two decades and paving the way for lower tariffs and increased trade standardization throughout the Pacific Asia region. While the complete details of the 30 chapter agreement have not […]

While the Office of the US Trade Representative continues its ongoing review of the newly reauthorized Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), President Obama has issued a proclamation with the first round of revisions. Countries Removed: Seychelles, Uruguay and Venezuela have become high-income countries as defined by the official statistics of the World Bank and will […]

The President’s order “Streamlining the Export/Import Process for America’s Businesses”, dictates an electronic information exchange capability, or “single window” through which businesses will transmit data required for the importation or exportation of cargo – the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). The Executive Order requirements by December 31, 2016:        Transmission of a harmonized set […]

Tianjin, China’s sixth largest container port, suffered a deadly explosion Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at 11:20 p.m.  The blast, which killed at least 114 people according to Chinese officials, originated from a Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics Company dangerous goods warehouse.  The Company’s senior executives have been taken into detention pending an investigation. […]

The following Shapiro offices will be closing early Wednesday, August 12, 2015 in celebration of our 100th Anniversary:   Baltimore, MD – closed at 4:00PM EST Philadelphia, PA – closed at 4:00PM EST Sterling, VA (Dulles) – closed at 4:00PM EST   Shapiro’s New York, Charleston, and Atlanta offices will remain open for regular hours. […]

In a somewhat surprising move, China’s Ministry of Commerce has rejected the proposed P3 Vessel-Sharing Agreement (VSA), an alliance that suggested major changes to the world’s shipping industry.  Comprised of 3 of the world’s top carriers (Maersk, MSC, and CMA CGM), the P3 would have accounted for approximately 42-47% of the Asia-Europe capacity, at least […]

US Customs and Border Protection has just announced that, effective July 29, 2015, filers again are entitled to file GSP- eligible entry summaries without the payment of estimated duties. Please be aware that the GSP reauthorization provides retroactive benefits only to goods from a country that is a beneficiary of the GSP program as of […]

Shapiro is excited to announce that our New York office has relocated! Take note, the only change has been to the office’s suite number. Our new address: 1 Cross Island Plaza 133-33 Brookville Blvd. Suite 101 Rosedale, NY 11422 Our phone and fax numbers will remain the same.  

As you are aware, the president recently signed off on the Trade Preferences Extension Act which retroactively renews GSP. At this point and time, all that has changed is learning that this legislation both extends GSP and retroactively applies benefits to multiple commodities through the end of 2017. Instructions regarding refunds and the process to […]

On June 29, 2015, President Obama signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, reinstating the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). The newly signed legislation will extend the GSP, retroactively applying benefits to eligible commodities, through December 31, 2017. The reinstatement of the GSP will entitle shippers from nearly 120 designated GSP countries to refunds […]

GSP renewal legislation has finally passed in both the House and the Senate. The legislation will now go to the President for his signature. The proposed legislation will reinstate the General System of Preference (GSP), retroactively applying benefits to eligible commodities; the program would be effective until December 31, 2017. The Coalition for GSP released […]