CBFANC President's Report for an Unusual Year

Evey Hwang, CBFANC President

In May, Port of Oakland held virtual Port Efficiency Task Force meeting. News of blank sailings and impact of COVID19 on port operations. John Driscoll, Oakland Maritime Director leaves to take on Executive Director for Port of Mobile. Bryan Brandes was named Maritime Director in June as his successor. Also in June, Andreas Culver elected President of Port Commission (succeeding Ces Butler.   Peter Friedmann holds very successful AgTC webinar, giving ho), peful model for virtual conference, and along with Lalo Acosta, PPC President for the weekly PCC Zoom Calls. Through CBFANC board member Peter Gong/Great Way’s generosity, CBFANC donated 6000 masks to Oakland’s Truck Work Group.

Our June highlight was hosting Peter Friedmann for his yearly insights. From facilitating seaport calls, setting weekly PCC calls, to advocacy for us on FMC guidelines on detention/demurrage, we are more grateful than ever for Peter. While Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) collects signatories for stakeholder letter to CA legislators on West Coast Ports loss of market share to East Coast, Peter connected us with Los Angeles Executive Port Director Gene Seroka to task for greater efficiency at West Coast Ports. With blank sailings, ocean rates doubling, air cargo restrictions, updates from Our Man in DC are more timely and vital than ever.

End of June, Steve Baxter, Assistant Port Director, retired!   On behalf of our membership, CBFANC expressed our appreciation for his kind understandings and assistance in working with brokers and forwarders in this port.   We wished him well and to enjoy spending more time with family. Felicia Brown was named Assistant Port Director to succeed Mr. Baxter.   We also received news for Rich DiNucci being named District Field Operations (effective August 1, 2020). We have appreciated Mr. DiNucci as our Area Port Director for his effective leadership (since his arrival in September 2017); it was all the more impressed with his calm reassurance at start COVID19 situation. During July 28^th Propeller Club virtual call, Mr. DiNucci promised he will continue to watch over San Francisco Port along with his expanded role overseeing District Northwest Ports including Hawaii.   Bruce Murley of Hawaii Port will serve as acting Area Port Director until permanent SF Area Port Director is named.

With July, CBFANC senses our Mission to our membership even clearer for providing communications, education and connection.   We are grateful for our Education Committee’s continuing efforts on webinars. The Drawback Webinar offered great content and updates from industry experts as Sarah Stroth of NF Stroth & Associates, Tim Vorderstrasse of Flexport, CBP Drawback Specialist Jaclyn Roarty and CBP Branch Chief Jennelle Cray.   Next Webinar on August 19, 2020 will be on Classifications through Steve Zisser of Zisser Customs Law Group.

On July 22^nd CBFANC met with FDA for annual Broker meeting.   Attending from FDA was Gordon Chu, Director of Investigations Branch; Lawton Lum, Director of Compliance; Marissa Chan, Consumer Safety Officer; Cindy Lewis, Consumer Safety Officer; Dan Solis, Division Director of Division West Coast Imports.   We are very appreciative of Dan Solis who aside from his DWCI responsibilities is also serving as acting FDA Assistant Commissioner.    A lot of discussion was on PPE and also recent concerns on hand sanitizers.   Recent imports of sanitizers were found to be less than the 70% alcohol content claimed on labels and worse, some found to contain toxic additives.   There has been news reports for holds and more examinations.   Per Mr. Solis, an understanding was reached for allowing re-export of sanitizers containing less than the 70% alcohol content but any found with toxic additives will require destruction (at importer expense).   A reminder from FDA was that product labels are not approved with registrations; labels are reviewed upon import review/exam.   Much emphasis was made on registrations and requirement for completed addresses.   Other requirements include need for indicated use (intended use), warnings and accurate labels.   A comment on inspections: With COVID19, inspections and sampling is still necessary and same procedures. In addition to inspection site and contacts, request is for isolation on inspectional area being segregated at time of inspection as safety measure for FDA Inspectors.

FDA welcomes feedback from brokers and importers. On Remote Filer evaluation, FDA would like feedback from association membership on process and experience. With COVID19, there is understanding on additional time needed for producing records.   As well, they request understanding for status requests.   Please allow time for response – at least 48-72 hours – with understanding that supervisors will forward emails to compliance.    Certainly if long lag on responses, reaching out to supervisor/branch is welcome.   An updated DWCI directory is being worked on and will be provided to CBFANC for port community.

CBFANC welcomes feedback on and suggestions from our membership. We strive to provide timely and pertinent information for our membership during this time.    Do join the weekly Tuesday 10:00 a.m. PCC Virtual calls.   Stay informed and keep safe!


CBFANC President's Report for an Unusual Year Evey Hwang, CBFANC President In May, Port of Oakland held virtual Port Efficiency Task Force meeting. News of blank sailings and impact of COVID19 on port operations. John Driscoll, Oakland Maritime Director leaves to take on Executive Director for Port of Mobile. Bryan Brandes was named Maritime Director in June as his successor. Also in June, Andreas Culver elected President of Port Commission (succeeding Ces Butler. Peter Friedmann holds very successful AgTC webinar, giving ho), peful model for virtual conference, and along with Lalo Acosta, PPC President for the weekly PCC Zoom Calls. Through CBFANC board member Peter Gong/Great Way’s generosity, CBFANC donated 6000 masks to Oakland’s Truck Work Group. Our June highlight was hosting Peter Friedmann for his yearly insights. From facilitating seaport calls, setting weekly PCC calls, to advocacy for us on FMC guidelines on detention/demurrage, we are more grateful than ever for Peter. While Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) collects signatories for stakeholder letter to CA legislators on West Coast Ports loss of market share to East Coast, Peter connected us with Los Angeles Executive Port Director Gene Seroka to task for greater efficiency at West Coast Ports. With blank sailings, ocean rates doubling, air cargo restrictions, updates from Our Man in DC are more timely and vital than ever. End of June, Steve Baxter, Assistant Port Director, retired! On behalf of our membership, CBFANC expressed our appreciation for his kind understandings and assistance in working with brokers and forwarders in this port. We wished him well and to enjoy spending more time with family. Felicia Brown was named Assistant Port Director to succeed Mr. Baxter. We also received news for Rich DiNucci being named District Field Operations (effective August 1, 2020). We have appreciated Mr. DiNucci as our Area Port Director for his effective leadership (since his arrival in September 2017); it was all the more impressed with his calm reassurance at start COVID19 situation. During July 28^th Propeller Club virtual call, Mr. DiNucci promised he will continue to watch over San Francisco Port along with his expanded role overseeing District Northwest Ports including Hawaii. Bruce Murley of Hawaii Port will serve as acting Area Port Director until permanent SF Area Port Director is named. With July, CBFANC senses our Mission to our membership even clearer for providing communications, education and connection. We are grateful for our Education Committee’s continuing efforts on webinars. The Drawback Webinar offered great content and updates from industry experts as Sarah Stroth of NF Stroth & Associates, Tim Vorderstrasse of Flexport, CBP Drawback Specialist Jaclyn Roarty and CBP Branch Chief Jennelle Cray. Next Webinar on August 19, 2020 will be on Classifications through Steve Zisser of Zisser Customs Law Group. On July 22^nd CBFANC met with FDA for annual Broker meeting. Attending from FDA was Gordon Chu, Director of Investigations Branch; Lawton Lum, Director of Compliance; Marissa Chan, Consumer Safety Officer; Cindy Lewis, Consumer Safety Officer; Dan Solis, Division Director of Division West Coast Imports. We are very appreciative of Dan Solis who aside from his DWCI responsibilities is also serving as acting FDA Assistant Commissioner. A lot of discussion was on PPE and also recent concerns on hand sanitizers. Recent imports of sanitizers were found to be less than the 70% alcohol content claimed on labels and worse, some found to contain toxic additives. There has been news reports for holds and more examinations. Per Mr. Solis, an understanding was reached for allowing re-export of sanitizers containing less than the 70% alcohol content but any found with toxic additives will require destruction (at importer expense). A reminder from FDA was that product labels are not approved with registrations; labels are reviewed upon import review/exam. Much emphasis was made on registrations and requirement for completed addresses. Other requirements include need for indicated use (intended use), warnings and accurate labels. A comment on inspections: With COVID19, inspections and sampling is still necessary and same procedures. In addition to inspection site and contacts, request is for isolation on inspectional area being segregated at time of inspection as safety measure for FDA Inspectors. FDA welcomes feedback from brokers and importers. On Remote Filer evaluation, FDA would like feedback from association membership on process and experience. With COVID19, there is understanding on additional time needed for producing records. As well, they request understanding for status requests. Please allow time for response – at least 48-72 hours – with understanding that supervisors will forward emails to compliance. Certainly if long lag on responses, reaching out to supervisor/branch is welcome. An updated DWCI directory is being worked on and will be provided to CBFANC for port community. CBFANC welcomes feedback on and suggestions from our membership. We strive to provide timely and pertinent information for our membership during this time. Do join the weekly Tuesday 10:00 a.m. PCC Virtual calls. Stay informed and keep safe!
CBFANC Newsletter - copy of July 2020 - Info Expeditor