Government Shutdown impacts trade:

Some of the most recent impact on Trade since the Government Shutdown includes:

1. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) - is open and processing shipments. All Declarations must be processed manually as the Electronic Declarations web site is down.
2. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - personnel are not available to process Notices of Arrival of Pesticides and Devices Form 3540-1.  National Customs Broker and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFFA) is in communication with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and EPA for guidance
3. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - delays are possible as Import Operations will remain open with limited resources to continue to perform critical functions: Entry review, field examinations, sample collections, compliance, exports, and destructions.
4. Steel License Office - is closed and entries are being processed with temporary license number to be used is "STEELX103".
5. Exchange Rate - receipt of currency exchange rates may be interrupted/sporadic.  Entries should be prepared using the last applicable rate available until regular processes resume.  Entries should be corrected before the filing of entry summary, where possible.  For entry summaries not able to be corrected, we will work with CBP to find the most efficient process including possible correction at liquidation.
6. Tariff Rate Quota Entries - these entries are automatically put on hold by the CBP system.  Until automated processing resumes, CBP has instructed the ports to manually release the entries and suspend liquidation for ultimate liquidation at the proper rate. 
7. Tariff Preference Levels - the International Trace Commission (ITC) OTEXA license system is down.  In the interim a solution would be to file the entries as entry type code 01.  If the license is available before finalization of the entry, the entry could be amended to entry type code 02.  If not able to be corrected, a PEA would be filed to correct the entry.
8. The ITC World Wide Web site, at www.usitc.gov is down – access to the United States Harmonized Tariff Schedule (USHTS) can be obtained from Customs Info Global Data Mining. You can download your copy at: http://hub.am/17oA99a
9. Exports - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certificates that are required by the governments of importing countries as a condition for importation could be impacted.
10. Whether the CBP 2013 Trade Symposium will continue on as scheduled will be determined as the date draws closer.
11. The October broker exam will remain as scheduled.