Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) have released a discussion draft of the Customs Facilitation Act of 2024, aimed at modernizing U.S. customs laws and streamlining the movement of goods and services across borders. This follows Cassidy's release of a framework for the proposal last month and a request for information in June last year.

"A trade system that’s simple and workable is a better trade system," said Dr. Cassidy. "There must be better management of imports and exports. This can protect consumers and make it easier for American businesses to move goods around the world."

"Hundreds of Nevada businesses and workers rely on trade to succeed, and that’s why I’m working to modernize our outdated custom laws," said Senator Cortez Masto. "This draft legislation would help Nevada businesses by creating a one-stop shop for customs data entry and promoting exports of American goods. I will keep working across the aisle to cut through red tape, boost our economy, and deliver for Nevada businesses and families."

Currently, the entry of goods across U.S. borders is fragmented, costly, slow, and requires redundant data entries across multiple government agencies. For example, importing a can of wet pet food necessitates submitting 54 data elements to three separate partner government agencies—the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—with 21 redundant data elements and 16 inconsistent definitions.

The Customs Facilitation Act of 2024 aims to address these inefficiencies.

The deadline to submit feedback on the discussion draft is August 30th, 2024.

Last year, Cassidy introduced the Customs Modernization Act to provide CBP with visibility into international supply chains to resolve data collection constraints, expand the legal use of trade data, increase supply chain accountability, improve enforcement effectiveness, and bolster information sharing among government agencies. Additionally, he introduced the Manifest Modernization Act to enhance transparency in shipments entering the U.S. by standardizing import data requirements regardless of cargo shipment methods.

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