The demand for energy is high and projected to increase steadily by at least 2% per year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). As a result, oil and gas products are being shipped at a faster rate than ever before, increasingly making their way across international borders to meet demand.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection could eventually expand the role of its 10 Centers of Excellence and Expertise beyond revenue-related functions to include making decisions on how and when to release imported goods into U.S. commerce, Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said earlier this month.

The relatively new centers are organized by industry to provide centralized processing of entry summaries and post-release activities associated with payment of customs duties...

Ottawa, May 30, 2014 — The International Federation of Customs Brokers Associations (IFCBA) held its bi-annual world conference “Celebrating 25 years of Trade Facilitation through Expertise and Innovation" in Seoul, Korea from May 13-17, 2014.

The conference sessions were well attended by 300 participants from all corners of the world, including Angola, Argentina, Canada, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Thailand, United States, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

The following is excerpted from the 9 February 2014 edition of Business world Online.

THE FINANCE department has issued new rules mandating importers to secure tax bureau accreditation, along with guidelines for post-entry audits of import transactions, as part of a "coordinated policy response" against smuggling.

Department Order (DO) 12-2014, issued Feb. 6, requires importers to be cleared by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before they are accredited by the Bureau of Customs (BoC).

2014 IFCBA WORLD CONFERENCE

The 2014 World Conference of the IFCBA, "Celebrating 25 years of Trade Facilitation through Expertise and Innovation", will take place from May 13-17 at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, Korea. For detailed information and to register, please click on the attached conference program, registration form and hotel form. Completed registration and hotel forms can be sent to the IFCBA Secretariat at [email protected].

The following is excerpted from an 8 February 2014 news release by CBP.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the European Union (EU) today announce the mutual recognition decision between CBP’s Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program and the EU’s Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program was fully implemented January 31.

The following is excerpted from a 31 January 2014 article by TD Waterhouse.

Russia plans to end a ban on imports of some U.S. meat starting with turkey in mid-February and pork by March, the Interfax news agency reported, citing its veterinary regulator.

Russia banned most meat imports from the United States, Canada and Mexico early last year due to concerns about the use of the feed additive ractopamine.

Message from the World Customs Organization on International Customs Day.

This year’s International Customs Day heralds the launch of the WCO Year of Communication, a year in which we, as a Customs community, move to further enhance our communication strategies and worldwide outreach programmes.

The following is excerpted from a 24 January 2014 news article by the International Chamber of Commerce.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has pledged strong support for a new initiative to pursue the conclusion of a deal to liberalize trade in green goods and services, calling on more countries to join the drive for a deal which could inject up to US$10.3 billion in additional exports and augment employment gains by 256,000 jobs, according to an ICC commissioned report.