Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB956 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 956
5	5	To facilitate the entry and processing of merchandise and trade enforcement,
6	6	and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	MARCH11 (legislative day, MARCH10), 2025
9	9	Mr. C
10	10	ASSIDY(for himself and Ms. CORTEZMASTO) introduced the following
11	11	bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To facilitate the entry and processing of merchandise and
14	14	trade enforcement, and for other purposes.
15	15	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
16	16	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
17	17	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
18	18	(a) S
19	19	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
20	20	‘‘Customs Facilitation Act of 2025’’. 5
21	21	(b) T
22	22	ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6
23	23	this Act is as follows: 7
24	24	Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
25	25	TITLE I—ONE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AT THE BORDER
26	26	Sec. 101. Border Interagency Executive Council.
27	27	Sec. 102. Establishment of single window import and export cargo processing
28	28	release system.
29	29	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
30	30	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
31	31	•S 956 IS
32	32	Sec. 103. Continued modernization of the Automated Commercial Environment.
33	33	Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations for uniform system for processing
34	34	and release of cargo.
35	35	TITLE II—MODERNIZING CUSTOMS PROCESSES
36	36	Sec. 201. Simplification of drawback procedures.
37	37	Sec. 202. Streamlined export processes.
38	38	Sec. 203. Treatment of clerical errors in submission of export data.
39	39	Sec. 204. Government Accountability Office report on fee schedule of U.S. Cus-
40	40	toms and Border Protection.
41	41	Sec. 205. Improvements to Centers of Excellence and Expertise.
42	42	TITLE III—IMPROVING CUSTOMS DATA AND TRANSPARENCY
43	43	Sec. 301. Requirements for regulations relating to data collection for trade en-
44	44	forcement and facilitation.
45	45	Sec. 302. Updates to U.S. Customs and Border Protection website and Cus-
46	46	toms-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Trade Compliance
47	47	Handbook.
48	48	Sec. 303. Establishment of deadlines for agency responses to trade community
49	49	requests.
50	50	Sec. 304. Accessibility of contact information of representatives of U.S. Cus-
51	51	toms and Border Protection and Centers of Excellence and Ex-
52	52	pertise.
53	53	TITLE I—ONE UNITED STATES 1
54	54	GOVERNMENT AT THE BORDER 2
55	55	SEC. 101. BORDER INTERAGENCY EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. 3
56	56	(a) E
57	57	STABLISHMENT.—There is established an inter-4
58	58	agency working group, to be known as the Border Inter-5
59	59	agency Executive Council (in this section referred to as 6
60	60	the ‘‘Council’’), to serve as an interagency forum to facili-7
61	61	tate the development of policies and processes to enhance 8
62	62	coordination across customs, transport security, health 9
63	63	and safety, sanitary, conservation, trade, and 10
64	64	phytosanitary agencies with border management authori-11
65	65	ties— 12
66	66	(1) to measurably improve supply chain proc-13
67	67	esses and the identification of illicit shipments; and 14
68	68	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
69	69	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
70	70	•S 956 IS
71	71	(2) to facilitate and expedite the flow of legiti-1
72	72	mate trade. 2
73	73	(b) O
74	74	VERSIGHT.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-3
75	75	rity shall oversee the Council. 4
76	76	(c) C
77	77	HAIRPERSON; VICECHAIRPERSON.— 5
78	78	(1) C
79	79	HAIRPERSON.—The Commissioner of U.S. 6
80	80	Customs and Border Protection or a senior-level des-7
81	81	ignee from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 8
82	82	shall serve as the chairperson of the Council. 9
83	83	(2) V
84	84	ICE CHAIRPERSON.—There shall be a vice 10
85	85	chairperson of the Council, who shall be selected 11
86	86	every 2 years from among the members of the Coun-12
87	87	cil by a process determined by the members. 13
88	88	(d) M
89	89	EMBERSHIP.— 14
90	90	(1) I
91	91	N GENERAL.—In addition to the chair-15
92	92	person and vice chairperson, the Council shall in-16
93	93	clude designated senior-level representatives who are 17
94	94	full-time or permanent part-time employees of Fed-18
95	95	eral agencies that provide approval before merchan-19
96	96	dise can be imported into or exported from the 20
97	97	United States, or that otherwise have the authority 21
98	98	to establish or enforce requirements relating to the 22
99	99	importation or exportation of merchandise, including 23
100	100	the following: 24
101	101	(A) The Department of State. 25
102	102	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
103	103	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
104	104	•S 956 IS
105	105	(B) The Department of the Treasury. 1
106	106	(C) The Department of Defense. 2
107	107	(D) The Department of the Interior. 3
108	108	(E) The Department of Agriculture. 4
109	109	(F) The Department of Commerce. 5
110	110	(G) The Department of Health and 6
111	111	Human Services. 7
112	112	(H) The Department of Transportation. 8
113	113	(I) The Department of Homeland Security. 9
114	114	(J) The Environmental Protection Agency. 10
115	115	(K) Such other Federal agencies, including 11
116	116	independent regulatory and quasi-judicial agen-12
117	117	cies and commissions, as the chairperson and 13
118	118	vice chairperson consider appropriate. 14
119	119	(2) R
120	120	EPRESENTATIVES OF EXECUTIVE OFFICE 15
121	121	OF PRESIDENT.—The Council may also include ap-16
122	122	propriate representatives of the Executive Office of 17
123	123	the President. 18
124	124	(3) W
125	125	AIVER OF PARTICIPATION .—The Sec-19
126	126	retary of Homeland Security may waive the partici-20
127	127	pation, in whole or in part, of representatives of any 21
128	128	agency specified in paragraph (1) in the Council if 22
129	129	the Secretary considers it appropriate. 23
130	130	(e) F
131	131	UNCTIONS OFCOUNCIL.—The Council shall— 24
132	132	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
133	133	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
134	134	•S 956 IS
135	135	(1) facilitate the development of common risk 1
136	136	management principles and methods to inform agen-2
137	137	cy operations associated with the review and release 3
138	138	of cargo at the border and to support compliance 4
139	139	with applicable law; 5
140	140	(2) facilitate the development of policies and 6
141	141	processes to coordinate, improve, and accelerate 7
142	142	agency review of electronic trade-related documenta-8
143	143	tion or information transmitted, or otherwise made 9
144	144	available, through relevant systems and provide co-10
145	145	ordinated and streamlined responses back to users 11
146	146	to facilitate trade and support compliance with ap-12
147	147	plicable law and international agreements; 13
148	148	(3) identify opportunities to use documentation 14
149	149	or information relating to the importation of mer-15
150	150	chandise, including documentation or information 16
151	151	provided prior to the arrival of merchandise into the 17
152	152	customs territory of the United States or the filing 18
153	153	of an entry of merchandise with U.S. Customs and 19
154	154	Border Protection, to facilitate priority processing 20
155	155	and the expedited release of such merchandise from 21
156	156	the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 22
157	157	and to reduce redundancies in the trade data that 23
158	158	each party in a supply chain is required to provide; 24
159	159	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
160	160	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
161	161	•S 956 IS
162	162	(4) identify opportunities to streamline Federal 1
163	163	Government systems and reduce costs through the 2
164	164	elimination of redundant capabilities and through 3
165	165	enhanced utilization of the capabilities of the Auto-4
166	166	mated Commercial Environment, or any successor 5
167	167	system, as a means of improving supply chain man-6
168	168	agement processes; 7
169	169	(5) identify opportunities to enhance whole-of- 8
170	170	Government trade processing capabilities, including 9
171	171	capabilities relating to processing cargo manifests, 10
172	172	collection of advance import and export data, uni-11
173	173	form cargo admissibility and release processes, entry 12
174	174	summaries, and cargo financial data, in the Auto-13
175	175	mated Commercial Environment, or any successor 14
176	176	system, that conform with the criteria for the admis-15
177	177	sibility of merchandise of all agencies represented on 16
178	178	the Council; 17
179	179	(6) enhance uniformity, consistency, and trans-18
180	180	parency, by facilitating the development, to the ex-19
181	181	tent practicable and consistent with applicable law, 20
182	182	of a standard nomenclature, including definitions of 21
183	183	relevant terms, across and within the Federal agen-22
184	184	cies represented on the Council for— 23
185	185	(A) any party in the supply chain; and 24
186	186	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
187	187	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
188	188	•S 956 IS
189	189	(B) any event related to the importation or 1
190	190	exportation of merchandise or any customs pro-2
191	191	gram; 3
192	192	(7) engage with and consider input from the 4
193	193	trade community and other relevant stakeholders re-5
194	194	garding opportunities to improve supply chain proc-6
195	195	esses and the processing of imported and exported 7
196	196	merchandise, with the goal of promoting economic 8
197	197	competitiveness through enhanced trade facilitation 9
198	198	and enforcement; 10
199	199	(8) encourage other countries to develop similar 11
200	200	trade processing capabilities, including single window 12
201	201	systems, to facilitate the sharing of relevant trade 13
202	202	data, as appropriate, across governmental systems 14
203	203	and with trading partners; and 15
204	204	(9) assess opportunities to facilitate electronic 16
205	205	payment of duties, taxes, fees, and charges imposed 17
206	206	under Federal law upon entry of merchandise. 18
207	207	(f) R
208	208	EPORT.— 19
209	209	(1) I
210	210	N GENERAL.—Not later than one year 20
211	211	after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not 21
212	212	later than December 31 of every other year there-22
213	213	after, the Council shall make available to the public 23
214	214	a report that describes the progress that the Council 24
215	215	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
216	216	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
217	217	•S 956 IS
218	218	has made toward carrying out the functions de-1
219	219	scribed under subsection (e). 2
220	220	(2) P
221	221	UBLIC COMMENT.—The Council shall pro-3
222	222	vide an opportunity for public comment on the re-4
223	223	port required by paragraph (1). 5
224	224	(g) C
225	225	ONTINUATION OF MEMBERS.—An individual 6
226	226	serving as a member of the Border Interagency Executive 7
227	227	Council established by Executive Order 13659 (19 U.S.C. 8
228	228	1411 note; relating to streamlining the export/import 9
229	229	process for America’s businesses) on the day before the 10
230	230	date of the enactment of this Act may continue to serve 11
231	231	as a member of the Council established by subsection (a). 12
232	232	SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF SINGLE WINDOW IMPORT 13
233	233	AND EXPORT CARGO PROCESSING RELEASE 14
234	234	SYSTEM. 15
235	235	(a) I
236	236	NGENERAL.—In order to advance the national 16
237	237	economic security, trade enforcement, and trade facilita-17
238	238	tion missions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 18
239	239	partner government agencies of U.S. Customs and Border 19
240	240	Protection, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall en-20
241	241	sure that a scalable, uniform automated platform provides 21
242	242	a system for the processing and release of cargo being im-22
243	243	ported into and exported from the United States. 23
244	244	(b) E
245	245	LEMENTS.—The system required by subsection 24
246	246	(a) shall include the following elements: 25
247	247	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
248	248	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
249	249	•S 956 IS
250	250	(1) Incorporation of whole-of-Government trade 1
251	251	processing capabilities, including capabilities relating 2
252	252	to processing cargo manifests, collection of advance 3
253	253	import and export data, uniform cargo admissibility 4
254	254	and release processes, entry summaries, and cargo 5
255	255	financial data, in the Automated Commercial Envi-6
256	256	ronment, or any successor system, to conform with 7
257	257	the admissibility criteria of— 8
258	258	(A) the Automated Commercial Environ-9
259	259	ment, or any successor system; and 10
260	260	(B) all agencies— 11
261	261	(i) participating in the International 12
262	262	Trade Data System established under sec-13
263	263	tion 411(d) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 14
264	264	U.S.C. 1411(d)); and 15
265	265	(ii) represented on the Border Inter-16
266	266	agency Executive Council, established in 17
267	267	section 101. 18
268	268	(2) Continued collaboration with the head of 19
269	269	each agency participating in the International Trade 20
270	270	Data System to make efforts to ensure that— 21
271	271	(A) if data required by a partner govern-22
272	272	ment agency is already available in the Auto-23
273	273	mated Commercial Environment, or any suc-24
274	274	cessor system, as a result of a requirement of 25
275	275	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
276	276	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
277	277	•S 956 IS
278	278	U.S. Customs and Border Protection or another 1
279	279	agency, the system will populate that data for 2
280	280	the purpose of reporting the data to the partner 3
281	281	government agency and the data will not need 4
282	282	to be reported again through a separate submis-5
283	283	sion, unless U.S. Customs and Border Protec-6
284	284	tion or the partner government agency deter-7
285	285	mines an additional submission is necessary to 8
286	286	confirm the accuracy of data received from 2 or 9
287	287	more sources; 10
288	288	(B) the Automated Commercial Environ-11
289	289	ment, or a successor system, provides a partner 12
290	290	government agency with any data that is need-13
291	291	ed to facilitate the coordination and efficient 14
292	292	execution of inspections conducted by that part-15
293	293	ner government agency; 16
294	294	(C) a partner government agency inter-17
295	295	ested in obtaining import and export data and 18
296	296	conducting or directing its own inspections is 19
297	297	able to do so through the manifest and entry 20
298	298	functionality of the Automated Commercial En-21
299	299	vironment, or a successor system, and in real 22
300	300	time when entries and manifests are submitted, 23
301	301	rather than as a redelivery process when cargo 24
302	302	may have already been delivered; and 25
303	303	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
304	304	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11
305	305	•S 956 IS
306	306	(D) a partner government agency inter-1
307	307	ested in obtaining clearance data clearly indi-2
308	308	cates all headings and subheadings of the Har-3
309	309	monized Tariff Schedule of the United States 4
310	310	that are subject to its jurisdiction, such that 5
311	311	the agency is identified when any such heading 6
312	312	or subheading of the Harmonized Tariff Sched-7
313	313	ule is submitted into the Automated Commer-8
314	314	cial Environment or a successor system. 9
315	315	(3) Any other feature determined by the Com-10
316	316	missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to 11
317	317	be necessary to substantially advance the national 12
318	318	economic security, trade enforcement, and trade fa-13
319	319	cilitation missions of U.S. Customs and Border Pro-14
320	320	tection and partner government agencies. 15
321	321	(c) A
322	322	SSESSMENT.— 16
323	323	(1) I
324	324	N GENERAL.—Not later 180 days after the 17
325	325	date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 18
326	326	of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall com-19
327	327	plete an assessment of whether a technology solution 20
328	328	that is capable of delivering the system required by 21
329	329	subsection (a) is commercially available. 22
330	330	(2) R
331	331	EPORT REQUIRED.—If the Commissioner 23
332	332	decides not to acquire a commercially available tech-24
333	333	nology to satisfy the system requirement of sub-25
334	334	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
335	335	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12
336	336	•S 956 IS
337	337	section (a), the Commissioner shall submit to Con-1
338	338	gress a report that includes a description of— 2
339	339	(A) if applicable, the determination that— 3
340	340	(i) developing the system required by 4
341	341	subsection (a) is more cost effective than 5
342	342	acquiring such system from a commercial 6
343	343	source; and 7
344	344	(ii) a system developed by U.S. Cus-8
345	345	toms and Border Protection can more ade-9
346	346	quately address the needs of partner gov-10
347	347	ernment agencies and the trade community 11
348	348	than a system acquired from a commercial 12
349	349	source; and 13
350	350	(B) the manner by which the Commis-14
351	351	sioner will provide the system required by sub-15
352	352	section (a) within the timeline and meeting the 16
353	353	requirements set forth in subsection (d). 17
354	354	(d) I
355	355	MPLEMENTATION OF THE SYSTEM.— 18
356	356	(1) I
357	357	N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 19
358	358	the date on which amounts appropriated pursuant to 20
359	359	the authorization of appropriations under section 21
360	360	104 are first made available to U.S. Customs and 22
361	361	Border Protection, the Commissioner shall imple-23
362	362	ment the system required by subsection (a). 24
363	363	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
364	364	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13
365	365	•S 956 IS
366	366	(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In implementing the sys-1
367	367	tem required by subsection (a), the Commissioner 2
368	368	shall— 3
369	369	(A) collaborate with the Trade Support 4
370	370	Network and other members of the trade com-5
371	371	munity as the Commissioner considers appro-6
372	372	priate; 7
373	373	(B) ensure that the system provides the 8
374	374	same or greater functionality as any system 9
375	375	being replaced by the system required by sub-10
376	376	section (a), to include functionality with respect 11
377	377	to the ability of partner government agencies 12
378	378	and the trade community to conduct ordinary 13
379	379	business; 14
380	380	(C) ensure that the system provides the 15
381	381	features envisioned in the 21st Century Cus-16
382	382	toms Framework of U.S. Customs and Border 17
383	383	Protection; and 18
384	384	(D) if unable to timely provide a feature of 19
385	385	the system required by this section, consult 20
386	386	with the Trade Support Network and other 21
387	387	members of the trade community, as the Com-22
388	388	missioner considers appropriate, to provide a 23
389	389	feature of equal importance. 24
390	390	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
391	391	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 14
392	392	•S 956 IS
393	393	(3) EXEMPTION FROM THE FEDERAL ADVISORY 1
394	394	COMMITTEE ACT.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United 2
395	395	States Code, shall not apply to this section or to 3
396	396	other efforts of U.S. Customs and Border Protection 4
397	397	to collaborate with members of the trade community 5
398	398	with respect to the development of the system re-6
399	399	quired by subsection (a). 7
400	400	(e) M
401	401	ODIFICATIONSTOENSUREOPERATION OF 8
402	402	I
403	403	NTERNATIONAL TRADE DATASYSTEM.—Section 9
404	404	411(d)(4)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 10
405	405	1411(d)(4)(A)) is amended— 11
406	406	(1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by strik-12
407	407	ing ‘‘and the Interagency Steering Committee’’ and 13
408	408	inserting ‘‘, the Interagency Steering Committee, 14
409	409	and the Border Interagency Executive Council (es-15
410	410	tablished by section 101 of the Customs Facilitation 16
411	411	Act of 2025), as appropriate, and in consultation 17
412	412	with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory 18
413	413	Committee, Trade Support Network, and other 19
414	414	members of the trade community as the Secretary 20
415	415	considers necessary,’’; 21
416	416	(2) in clause (i), by striking the semicolon and 22
417	417	inserting ‘‘; and’’; 23
418	418	(3) in clause (ii), by striking the semicolon and 24
419	419	inserting a period; and 25
420	420	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
421	421	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 15
422	422	•S 956 IS
423	423	(4) by striking clauses (iii) and (iv). 1
424	424	SEC. 103. CONTINUED MODERNIZATION OF THE AUTO-2
425	425	MATED COMMERCIAL ENVIRONMENT. 3
426	426	(a) I
427	427	NGENERAL.—In order to advance the national 4
428	428	economic security, trade enforcement, and trade facilita-5
429	429	tion missions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and 6
430	430	partner government agencies of U.S. Customs and Border 7
431	431	Protection, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro-8
432	432	vide for the continuous modernization of the Automated 9
433	433	Commercial Environment or a successor system. 10
434	434	(b) R
435	435	EQUIREMENTS.— 11
436	436	(1) D
437	437	EVELOPMENT PRIORITIES .—The Commis-12
438	438	sioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in 13
439	439	consultation with the Commercial Customs Oper-14
440	440	ations Advisory Committee (established under sec-15
441	441	tion 109 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade En-16
442	442	forcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4316)), the Trade 17
443	443	Support Network, and any other member of the 18
444	444	trade community the Commissioner considers appro-19
445	445	priate, shall determine the development priorities for 20
446	446	the Automated Commercial Environment, or a suc-21
447	447	cessor system. 22
448	448	(2) C
449	449	OLLABORATION WITH PARTNER GOVERN -23
450	450	MENT AGENCIES AND INDUSTRY .— 24
451	451	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
452	452	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 16
453	453	•S 956 IS
454	454	(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of 1
455	455	U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall col-2
456	456	laborate with partner government agencies, the 3
457	457	Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Com-4
458	458	mittee, the Trade Support Network, and any 5
459	459	other member of the trade community the Com-6
460	460	missioner considers appropriate, to ensure that 7
461	461	any enhancement to the Automated Commercial 8
462	462	Environment, or a successor system, is effec-9
463	463	tively delivered to Federal agencies and to the 10
464	464	trade community. 11
465	465	(B) M
466	466	EETINGS.— 12
467	467	(i) I
468	468	N GENERAL.—Not later than 90 13
469	469	days after the date of the enactment of 14
470	470	this Act, and as frequently as the Commis-15
471	471	sioner considers appropriate thereafter, but 16
472	472	not less frequently than every 30 days, the 17
473	473	Commissioner shall convene meetings to 18
474	474	solicit feedback on enhancements to the 19
475	475	Automated Commercial Environment, or a 20
476	476	successor system. 21
477	477	(ii) A
478	478	TTENDEES.—For each meeting 22
479	479	convened under clause (i), the Commis-23
480	480	sioner shall invite— 24
481	481	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
482	482	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 17
483	483	•S 956 IS
484	484	(I) any representative from a 1
485	485	partner government agency or mem-2
486	486	ber of the trade community who has a 3
487	487	stake in the system feature being dis-4
488	488	cussed at the meeting; 5
489	489	(II) any contractor or technical 6
490	490	expert that the Commissioner con-7
491	491	siders appropriate; and 8
492	492	(III) any other stakeholder the 9
493	493	Commissioner considers appropriate. 10
494	494	(iii) T
495	495	ASKS.—For each meeting con-11
496	496	vened under clause (i), the Commissioner 12
497	497	shall— 13
498	498	(I) solicit feedback on any en-14
499	499	hancement to the Automated Com-15
500	500	mercial Environment, or a successor 16
501	501	system, that is planned, in develop-17
502	502	ment, or newly implemented and is 18
503	503	addressed at the meeting; 19
504	504	(II) conduct user testing or re-20
505	505	search with respect to any enhance-21
506	506	ment to the Automated Commercial 22
507	507	Environment that is planned, in devel-23
508	508	opment, or newly implemented; 24
509	509	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
510	510	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 18
511	511	•S 956 IS
512	512	(III) maintain a summary of the 1
513	513	feedback received with respect to each 2
514	514	such enhancement; and 3
515	515	(IV) incorporate, to the extent 4
516	516	practicable and as aligned with the 5
517	517	development priorities determined 6
518	518	under paragraph (1), the results of 7
519	519	any testing or research conducted 8
520	520	under subclause (II) into the develop-9
521	521	ment of any such enhancement. 10
522	522	(3) M
523	523	ANAGEMENT OF COMMUNICATION .—The 11
524	524	Commissioner shall establish, through the use of a 12
525	525	ticketing system or such other means as the Com-13
526	526	missioner considers appropriate, a mechanism to 14
527	527	manage communication relating to the Automated 15
528	528	Commercial Environment, or a successor system, 16
529	529	under which users of the Automated Commercial 17
530	530	Environment, or such successor system, may report 18
531	531	feedback, including with respect to bugs or any other 19
532	532	issue, and the appropriate contractor or agency may 20
533	533	review and respond to such feedback. 21
534	534	(c) R
535	535	EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 22
536	536	of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 23
537	537	Commissioner shall submit to Congress and make avail-24
538	538	able to the public a report that describes the development 25
539	539	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
540	540	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 19
541	541	•S 956 IS
542	542	progress of the Automated Commercial Environment, or 1
543	543	any successor system. 2
544	544	SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR UNI-3
545	545	FORM SYSTEM FOR PROCESSING AND RE-4
546	546	LEASE OF CARGO. 5
547	547	There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-6
548	548	retary of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2026, and 7
549	549	each fiscal year thereafter, such sums as may be necessary 8
550	550	to carry out improvements in a scalable, uniform auto-9
551	551	mated platform that provides a system for the processing 10
552	552	and release of cargo being imported into and exported 11
553	553	from the United States, including improvements to and 12
554	554	integration of the Automated Commercial Environment, 13
555	555	or any successor system, as described in section 102. 14
556	556	TITLE II—MODERNIZING 15
557	557	CUSTOMS PROCESSES 16
558	558	SEC. 201. SIMPLIFICATION OF DRAWBACK PROCEDURES. 17
559	559	(a) I
560	560	NGENERAL.—Section 313 of the Tariff Act of 18
561	561	1930 (19 U.S.C. 1313) is amended by inserting after sub-19
562	562	section (s) the following: 20
563	563	‘‘(t) S
564	564	IMPLIFICATION OF DRAWBACK PROCE-21
565	565	DURES.— 22
566	566	‘‘(1) A
567	567	CCELERATED PAYMENT .— 23
568	568	‘‘(A) I
569	569	N GENERAL.—A person that meets 24
570	570	the requirements of paragraph (3) and files a 25
571	571	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
572	572	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 20
573	573	•S 956 IS
574	574	claim for drawback under this section shall be 1
575	575	paid all estimated duties, taxes, and fees cov-2
576	576	ered by the claim while the liquidation of the 3
577	577	claim is pending. 4
578	578	‘‘(B) E
579	579	STIMATED PAYMENT EXCEEDS LIQ -5
580	580	UIDATED AMOUNT.—If the amount of estimated 6
581	581	duties, taxes, and fees paid by U.S. Customs 7
582	582	and Border Protection under subparagraph (A) 8
583	583	for a drawback claim exceeds an amount that 9
584	584	is $20 more than the final liquidated amount 10
585	585	for that claim, the person that filed the claim 11
586	586	shall refund to U.S. Customs and Border Pro-12
587	587	tection the amount by which the amount of esti-13
588	588	mated duties, taxes, and fees paid by U.S. Cus-14
589	589	toms and Border Protection exceeds the final 15
590	590	liquidated amount. 16
591	591	‘‘(C) L
592	592	IQUIDATED AMOUNT EXCEEDS ESTI -17
593	593	MATED PAYMENT .—If the final liquidated 18
594	594	amount for a drawback claim exceeds an 19
595	595	amount that is $20 more than the amount of 20
596	596	estimated duties, taxes, and fees paid by U.S. 21
597	597	Customs and Border Protection under subpara-22
598	598	graph (A) for the claim, U.S. Customs and 23
599	599	Border Protection shall provide to the person 24
600	600	that filed the claim an additional refund in the 25
601	601	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
602	602	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 21
603	603	•S 956 IS
604	604	amount by which the final liquidated amount 1
605	605	exceeds the amount of estimated duties, taxes, 2
606	606	and fees paid by U.S. Customs and Border Pro-3
607	607	tection. 4
608	608	‘‘(2) P
609	609	RIOR NOTICE OF EXPORT NOT RE -5
610	610	QUIRED.—A person that meets the requirements of 6
611	611	paragraph (3) shall not be required to provide notice 7
612	612	to U.S. Customs and Border Protection of an export 8
613	613	of merchandise to be used in a claim for drawback 9
614	614	under this section before exporting the merchandise. 10
615	615	‘‘(3) R
616	616	EQUIREMENTS FOR CLAIMANTS .—A per-11
617	617	son meets the requirements of this paragraph if the 12
618	618	person has completed the following: 13
619	619	‘‘(A) Submitted to U.S. Customs and Bor-14
620	620	der Protection information and supporting doc-15
621	621	umentation kept by the person in the normal 16
622	622	course of business that evidences the ability of 17
623	623	the person to file for and claim drawback under 18
624	624	this section, which submission shall— 19
625	625	‘‘(i) be deemed complete when sub-20
626	626	mitted to U.S. Customs and Border Pro-21
627	627	tection by the person; and 22
628	628	‘‘(ii) apply to all claims for drawback 23
629	629	filed by the person under this section after 24
630	630	the completion of the submission. 25
631	631	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
632	632	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 22
633	633	•S 956 IS
634	634	‘‘(B) Obtained a properly executed bond 1
635	635	securing, pending liquidation of a drawback 2
636	636	claim, repayment of 100 percent of the esti-3
637	637	mated duties, taxes, and fees covered by the 4
638	638	claim. 5
639	639	‘‘(4) E
640	640	LECTRONIC FILINGS FOR DRAWBACK 6
641	641	CLAIMS.—A person making a claim for drawback 7
642	642	under this section shall be allowed to file an amend-8
643	643	ment to, or perfection of, a drawback claim through 9
644	644	electronic means.’’. 10
645	645	(b) P
646	646	RIORAPPROVALNOTREQUIRED FORSUBSTI-11
647	647	TUTIONDRAWBACK.—Section 313(b) of the Tariff Act of 12
648	648	1930 (19 U.S.C. 1313(b)) is amended by adding at the 13
649	649	end the following: 14
650	650	‘‘(5) A
651	651	DVANCE APPROVAL OF CLAIMS NOT RE -15
652	652	QUIRED.—A person filing a claim for drawback 16
653	653	under paragraph (1) shall not be required to obtain 17
654	654	any ruling or approval authorizing drawback under 18
655	655	that paragraph from the U.S. Customs and Border 19
656	656	Protection before filing the claim, but shall exercise 20
657	657	reasonable care in determining whether to obtain 21
658	658	such a ruling in advance of the filing.’’. 22
659	659	(c) R
660	660	EGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 23
661	661	the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 24
662	662	of U.S. Customs and Border Protection shall prescribe 25
663	663	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
664	664	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 23
665	665	•S 956 IS
666	666	regulations specifying the information required to be in-1
667	667	cluded in submissions made under subsection (t) of section 2
668	668	313 of the Tariff Act of 1930, as added by subsection (a). 3
669	669	SEC. 202. STREAMLINED EXPORT PROCESSES. 4
670	670	Section 304 of title 13, United States Code, is 5
671	671	amended by adding at the end the following: 6
672	672	‘‘(d) R
673	673	EGULATIONSRELATING TOADVANCEINFOR-7
674	674	MATION.— 8
675	675	‘‘(1) I
676	676	N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com-9
677	677	merce shall prescribe regulations to account for ad-10
678	678	vance documentation or information and reports de-11
679	679	scribed in subsection (a) made available with respect 12
680	680	to cargo before the exportation or transportation of 13
681	681	the cargo. 14
682	682	‘‘(2) C
683	683	ONSIDERATION OF TIMELINES FOR SUB -15
684	684	MISSION.—In prescribing regulations under para-16
685	685	graph (1), the Secretary shall— 17
686	686	‘‘(A) consider how the different business 18
687	687	models of persons submitting advance docu-19
688	688	mentation or information under subsection (a) 20
689	689	impact the availability of the documentation or 21
690	690	information; and 22
691	691	‘‘(B) adjust the timelines required for the 23
692	692	submission of that documentation or informa-24
693	693	tion as appropriate. 25
694	694	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
695	695	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 24
696	696	•S 956 IS
697	697	‘‘(3) AVOIDANCE OF REDUNDANCY .—If infor-1
698	698	mation relating to the exportation or transportation 2
699	699	of cargo provided under this section or section 431 3
700	700	of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1431) is redun-4
701	701	dant with information required to be provided under 5
702	702	any other provision of law, the Secretary shall, pur-6
703	703	suant to the regulations prescribed under paragraph 7
704	704	(1), work jointly with the Commissioner of U.S. 8
705	705	Customs and Border Protection to ensure that the 9
706	706	provision of the information under this section or 10
707	707	such section 431 satisfies the requirement to provide 11
708	708	the information under such other provision of law, to 12
709	709	the extent practicable.’’. 13
710	710	SEC. 203. TREATMENT OF CLERICAL ERRORS IN SUBMIS-14
711	711	SION OF EXPORT DATA. 15
712	712	Section 305(b) of title 13, United States Code, is 16
713	713	amended— 17
714	714	(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 18
715	715	the following: 19
716	716	‘‘(1) I
717	717	N GENERAL.—The Secretary’’; and 20
718	718	(2) by adding at the end the following: 21
719	719	‘‘(2) T
720	720	REATMENT OF CLERICAL ERRORS .—For 22
721	721	purposes of paragraph (1), clerical errors or mis-23
722	722	takes of fact are not violations unless they are part 24
723	723	of a pattern of violative conduct. The mere noninten-25
724	724	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
725	725	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 25
726	726	•S 956 IS
727	727	tional repetition by an electronic system of an initial 1
728	728	clerical error does not constitute a pattern of viola-2
729	729	tive conduct.’’. 3
730	730	SEC. 204. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 4
731	731	ON FEE SCHEDULE OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND 5
732	732	BORDER PROTECTION. 6
733	733	Not later than one year after the date of the enact-7
734	734	ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 8
735	735	States shall submit to Congress a report on the fee sched-9
736	736	ule of U.S. Customs and Border Protection that in-10
737	737	cludes— 11
738	738	(1) an assessment of— 12
739	739	(A) how that schedule might be restruc-13
740	740	tured; and 14
741	741	(B) ways— 15
742	742	(i) to reduce costs for the entities in 16
743	743	the trade community that are the most 17
744	744	compliant with the customs and trade laws 18
745	745	of the United States (as defined in section 19
746	746	2 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade En-20
747	747	forcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4301)); 21
748	748	and 22
749	749	(ii) to ensure that all entities that 23
750	750	benefit from customs services provided by 24
751	751	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
752	752	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 26
753	753	•S 956 IS
754	754	U.S. Customs and Border Protection pay 1
755	755	for those services; and 2
756	756	(2) recommendations for Congress. 3
757	757	SEC. 205. IMPROVEMENTS TO CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE 4
758	758	AND EXPERTISE. 5
759	759	Section 110(a) of the Trade Facilitation and Trade 6
760	760	Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4317(a)) is amend-7
761	761	ed— 8
762	762	(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 9
763	763	inserting a semicolon; 10
764	764	(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 11
765	765	inserting a semicolon; and 12
766	766	(3) by adding at the end the following: 13
767	767	‘‘(10) develop procedures, informed compliance 14
768	768	publications, or other guidance with respect to the 15
769	769	entry of merchandise in compliance with the law; 16
770	770	and 17
771	771	‘‘(11) provide guidance to importers on the 18
772	772	post-entry and clearance procedures for imported 19
773	773	merchandise impacted by admissibility issues includ-20
774	774	ing alleged violations of section 307 of the Trade 21
775	775	Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).’’. 22
776	776	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
777	777	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 27
778	778	•S 956 IS
779	779	TITLE III—IMPROVING CUSTOMS 1
780	780	DATA AND TRANSPARENCY 2
781	781	SEC. 301. REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATIONS RELATING 3
782	782	TO DATA COLLECTION FOR TRADE ENFORCE-4
783	783	MENT AND FACILITATION. 5
784	784	(a) R
785	785	EQUIREMENTS FOR NEWREGULATIONS.—In 6
786	786	developing and imposing regulations requiring the collec-7
787	787	tion of additional information for the purposes of trade 8
788	788	enforcement and facilitation, each official described in 9
789	789	subsection (b) shall adhere to the following: 10
790	790	(1) The official shall solicit comments from and 11
791	791	consult with a broad range of parties likely to be af-12
792	792	fected by the regulations, including importers, ex-13
793	793	porters, carriers, customs brokers, platforms, and 14
794	794	freight forwarders, and other interested parties. 15
795	795	(2) In general, the requirement to provide par-16
796	796	ticular information shall be imposed on parties with 17
797	797	direct knowledge of that information, as appropriate. 18
798	798	Where requiring information from a party with di-19
799	799	rect knowledge of that information is not prac-20
800	800	ticable, the regulations shall take into account how, 21
801	801	under ordinary and reasonable commercial practices, 22
802	802	information is acquired by a party on which the re-23
803	803	quirement is imposed, and whether and how such 24
804	804	party is reasonably able to verify the information. 25
805	805	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
806	806	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 28
807	807	•S 956 IS
808	808	Where information is not reasonably verifiable by a 1
809	809	party on which a requirement is imposed, the regula-2
810	810	tions shall permit that party to transmit information 3
811	811	on the basis of what the party reasonably believes to 4
812	812	be true based on commercially reasonable practices. 5
813	813	(3) The official shall take into account the ex-6
814	814	istence of competitive relationships among the par-7
815	815	ties on which requirements to provide particular in-8
816	816	formation are imposed. 9
817	817	(4) Where the regulations impose requirements 10
818	818	on carriers of cargo, the regulations shall take into 11
819	819	account differences among different modes of trans-12
820	820	portation, including differences in commercial prac-13
821	821	tices, operational characteristics, and technological 14
822	822	capacity to collect and transmit information elec-15
823	823	tronically. 16
824	824	(5) The regulations shall take into account the 17
825	825	extent to which the technology necessary for parties 18
826	826	to transmit and U.S. Customs and Border Protec-19
827	827	tion to receive and analyze data in a timely fashion 20
828	828	is available. To the extent the official determines 21
829	829	that the necessary technology will not be widely 22
830	830	available to particular modes of transportation or 23
831	831	other affected parties until after promulgation of the 24
832	832	regulations, the regulations shall— 25
833	833	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
834	834	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 29
835	835	•S 956 IS
836	836	(A) provide interim requirements appro-1
837	837	priate for the technology that is available at the 2
838	838	time of promulgation; or 3
839	839	(B) other accommodations. 4
840	840	(6) In determining the timing for transmittal of 5
841	841	any information, the official shall balance likely im-6
842	842	pact on flow of commerce with impact on trade en-7
843	843	forcement. With respect to requirements that may be 8
844	844	imposed on carriers of cargo, the timing for trans-9
845	845	mittal of information shall take into account dif-10
846	846	ferences among different modes of transportation, as 11
847	847	described in paragraph (4). 12
848	848	(7) Where practicable, the regulations shall 13
849	849	avoid imposing requirements that are redundant 14
850	850	with one another or that are redundant with require-15
851	851	ments in other provisions of law. 16
852	852	(8) The official shall determine whether it is 17
853	853	appropriate to provide transition periods between 18
854	854	promulgation of the regulations and the effective 19
855	855	date of the regulations and shall prescribe such tran-20
856	856	sition periods in the regulations, as appropriate, tak-21
857	857	ing into account different business models. 22
858	858	(9) The official shall, in collaboration with the 23
859	859	Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec-24
860	860	tion and the Postmaster General, prescribe regula-25
861	861	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
862	862	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 30
863	863	•S 956 IS
864	864	tions requiring the United States Postal Service to 1
865	865	transmit the information described in this subsection 2
866	866	to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border 3
867	867	Protection for international mail shipments by the 4
868	868	Postal Service (including shipments to the Postal 5
869	869	Service from foreign postal operators that are trans-6
870	870	ported by private carrier). 7
871	871	(b) O
872	872	FFICIALSDESCRIBED.—The officials described 8
873	873	in this subsection are— 9
874	874	(1) the Secretary of the Treasury; 10
875	875	(2) the Secretary of Homeland Security; and 11
876	876	(3) the head of each agency represented on the 12
877	877	Border Interagency Executive Council established by 13
878	878	section 101. 14
879	879	SEC. 302. UPDATES TO U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO-15
880	880	TECTION WEBSITE AND CUSTOMS-TRADE 16
881	881	PARTNERSHIP AGAINST TERRORISM TRADE 17
882	882	COMPLIANCE HANDBOOK. 18
883	883	(a) N
884	884	OTIFICATION OFCHANGES.— 19
885	885	(1) I
886	886	N GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. 20
887	887	Customs and Border Protection shall consult with 21
888	888	and notify members of the trade community if con-22
889	889	tent related to minimum security criteria is added to 23
890	890	or removed from the publicly accessible website of 24
891	891	U.S. Customs and Border Protection or the Trade 25
892	892	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
893	893	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 31
894	894	•S 956 IS
895	895	Compliance Handbook for the Customs-Trade Part-1
896	896	nership Against Terrorism. 2
897	897	(2) C
898	898	ONTENT OF NOTIFICATIONS .—A notifica-3
899	899	tion required by paragraph (1) shall include a sum-4
900	900	mary and explanation of the reasons for the addition 5
901	901	or removal of the content. 6
902	902	(3) M
903	903	ODEL.—The Commissioner shall use the 7
904	904	process of the United States International Trade 8
905	905	Commission for disclosing modifications to the Har-9
906	906	monized Tariff Schedule of the United States as a 10
907	907	model for the notification required by paragraph (1). 11
908	908	(b) A
909	909	DDITIONS TO TRADECOMPLIANCEHAND-12
910	910	BOOK.—In addition to providing the notification required 13
911	911	by subsection (a)(1), the Commissioner shall consult with 14
912	912	members of the trade community with respect to any new 15
913	913	requirements that may be added to the Trade Compliance 16
914	914	Handbook of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against 17
915	915	Terrorism. 18
916	916	(c) R
917	917	EVISIONS TO TRADECOMPLIANCE HAND-19
918	918	BOOK.—The Commissioner shall revise the Trade Compli-20
919	919	ance Handbook of the Customs-Trade Partnership 21
920	920	Against Terrorism to include constructive and detailed 22
921	921	context for best practices for mitigating the risk of import-23
922	922	ing merchandise produced using forced labor. 24
923	923	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
924	924	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 32
925	925	•S 956 IS
926	926	(d) CONSULTATIONS WITHFORCEDLABOREN-1
927	927	FORCEMENTTASKFORCE.—In revising the Trade Com-2
928	928	pliance Handbook of the Customs-Trade Partnership 3
929	929	Against Terrorism under this section, the Commissioner 4
930	930	shall consult with the Forced Labor Enforcement Task 5
931	931	Force to ensure consistent messaging and streamlining of 6
932	932	resources. 7
933	933	SEC. 303. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEADLINES FOR AGENCY RE-8
934	934	SPONSES TO TRADE COMMUNITY REQUESTS. 9
935	935	(a) I
936	936	NGENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 10
937	937	date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 11
938	938	U.S. Customs and Border Protection— 12
939	939	(1) shall review any regulations governing dead-13
940	940	lines for rulings and decisions of U.S. Customs and 14
941	941	Border Protection, including with respect to peti-15
942	942	tions, protests, and requests for advice, and customs 16
943	943	rulings; and 17
944	944	(2) may, in consultation with members of the 18
945	945	Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Com-19
946	946	mittee, revise such regulations. 20
947	947	(b) U
948	948	PDATES TOEXISTINGDEADLINES.—In a case 21
949	949	in which a deadline is already established for a response 22
950	950	described in subsection (a), the Commissioner shall— 23
951	951	(1) review the deadline; and 24
952	952	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
953	953	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 33
954	954	•S 956 IS
955	955	(2) if appropriate, revise the deadline to be 1
956	956	more expeditious. 2
957	957	(c) R
958	958	EPORTREQUIRED.—Not later than one year 3
959	959	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-4
960	960	troller General of the United States shall submit to Con-5
961	961	gress and make available to the public a report on rulings 6
962	962	and decisions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection that 7
963	963	includes— 8
964	964	(1) an assessment of— 9
965	965	(A) the average annual number of rulings 10
966	966	and decisions described in subsection (a) con-11
967	967	sidered by U.S. Customs and Border Protec-12
968	968	tion, including such rulings and decisions that 13
969	969	are not subject to a statutory or regulatory 14
970	970	deadline; 15
971	971	(B) the average response time of U.S. Cus-16
972	972	toms and Border Protection to petitions, pro-17
973	973	tests, and requests for advice, including the 18
974	974	total amount of responses made before and 19
975	975	after the applicable statutory or regulatory 20
976	976	deadline; 21
977	977	(C) the average time for issuance of cus-22
978	978	toms rulings by U.S. Customs and Border Pro-23
979	979	tection, including the total amount of rulings 24
980	980	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
981	981	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 34
982	982	•S 956 IS
983	983	issued before and after the applicable statutory 1
984	984	or regulatory deadline; 2
985	985	(D) for deadlines not met, the average 3
986	986	time it took for U.S. Customs and Border Pro-4
987	987	tection to respond or issue a ruling; 5
988	988	(E) reasons provided by U.S. Customs and 6
989	989	Border Protection explaining why the deadlines 7
990	990	were not met; and 8
991	991	(F) in the case of rulings and decisions not 9
992	992	subject to a statutory or regulatory deadline, 10
993	993	reasons for the length of time for issuing such 11
994	994	rulings and making such decisions; 12
995	995	(2) a description of the petition and protest 13
996	996	process, including timelines that apply under stat-14
997	997	utes or regulations as of the date of the report; and 15
998	998	(3) recommendations for Congress on improving 16
999	999	the time taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protec-17
1000	1000	tion to respond to petitions, protests, and requests 18
1001	1001	for advice and to issue rulings. 19
1002	1002	SEC. 304. ACCESSIBILITY OF CONTACT INFORMATION OF 20
1003	1003	REPRESENTATIVES OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND 21
1004	1004	BORDER PROTECTION AND CENTERS OF EX-22
1005	1005	CELLENCE AND EXPERTISE. 23
1006	1006	The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro-24
1007	1007	tection shall develop a system to assist members of the 25
1008	1008	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
1009	1009	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 35
1010	1010	•S 956 IS
1011	1011	trade community in quickly and easily identifying up-to- 1
1012	1012	date contact information for— 2
1013	1013	(1) personnel within the headquarters of U.S. 3
1014	1014	Customs and Border Protection that interact with 4
1015	1015	members of the trade community; 5
1016	1016	(2) personnel of U.S. Customs and Border Pro-6
1017	1017	tection and partner government agencies at ports of 7
1018	1018	entry that interact with members of the trade com-8
1019	1019	munity; and 9
1020	1020	(3) personnel of the Centers of Excellence and 10
1021	1021	Expertise established under section 110 of the Trade 11
1022	1022	Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (19 12
1023	1023	U.S.C. 4317) that interact with members of the 13
1024	1024	trade community. 14
1025	1025	Æ
1026	1026	VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:41 Mar 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S956.IS S956
1027	1027	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS