House Action to Modern Export Controls
On May 20, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed legislation that, in part, would modernize U.S. export control policy. The bill seeks to both improve national security and also permit more defense-related foreign sales. The bill also seeks to eliminate the backlog of pending State Department license applications.
Under the bill:
- DDTC (the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls) would be required to have 1 licensing officer for every 1,250 applications by fiscal 2011;
- DDTC would be required to have three people to review commodity jurisdiction requests;
- Commodity jurisdiction decisions would need to be published on the internet;
- A performance goal of 60 days to process license applications, and 30 days to process applications for close allies would be established.
These, and the other changes included in the bill, are valuable efforts at facilitating export trade in defense articles. In particular, the publication of commodity jurisdiction determinations will give exporters a far better basis on which to engage in rational internal decision making on whether a license is necessary. That will ultimately result in cost savings and fewer delays in corporate sales activity. Of course, the associated risk is that exporters making independent jurisdiction decisions might get it wrong even when relying on similar DDTC decisions.
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The ISF Regulation is of key importance since all ocean shipments bound for the United States must now be ‘ISF Compliant’ to clear US Customs. Failure to submit a Security Filing will result in a $5000 fine for each shipment.
George Manolis further explains the significance of the ruling, IES’s Senior Vice President of Operations explains, “The industry has known about ISF 10+2 for quite some time."
"The primary industry concern regarding the regulation was that the information required by CBP (Customs and Border Protection) would not always be easily obtainable or that implementation would become an enormous undertaking. IES had been testing with CBP well before the final interim ruling went into effect. We leveraged this time to focus on our ISF applications from a user interface perspective while also concentrating on the ease and efficiency of the implementation process.”
“Simply stated, our goal was to equip our clients with training and knowledge while simultaneously ensuring a quick and easy filing process. The positive feedback we have received from our customer base is a solid indication that IES’s ISF solutions are a resounding success.”
The John S. James Company, headquartered in Savannah, Georgia is also keenly impressed by the IES suite of ISF Solutions. Len James, Director of Finance & Accounting provides details, “We recently implemented the ISF 10+2 Solution. The quality of the IES products as compared to other software vendors was immediately evident during the implementation process. The ease of the transition into ISF compliance really put into perspective the level of expertise that IES has achieved as a logistics and transportation software company.”
“We take pride in offering exceptional services for all our clients. With IES, John S. James will continue to excel. Our success stems from exceeding the expectations of our customers with every interaction, every transaction, everyday. Working with IES ensures that we can offer the highest level of service while ensuring regulatory compliance. Overall, IES has truly exceeded our expectations with their ISF Solutions.”
About The John S. James Company
The John S. James Co. was founded in 1941 in Savannah, Georgia. With a mission to offer personalized service to the international transportation community, John S. James Co. became a leader in the international freight forwarding and customs brokerage industries. Their founder’s initial vision to “provide unparalleled service to our customers,” still resonates in their culture today. Their reputation for excellence is a direct result of a sincere commitment to service and professionalism.
In the years since its founding, operations have expanded to offices in six major cities in the United States. However physical locations have not limited their ability to provide global service to clients. John S. James maintains corresponding partnership agreements with a multitude of companies both in the United States and around the globe, allowing shipments to be handled from all international ports.
The organization now employs over 150 International Customs and Forwarding Specialists, serving the needs of the transportation community. The John S. James Co. provides unmatched expertise in the handling of customs document preparation and cargo coordination in the international arena.