2011-29953. Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC)

AGENCY:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

ACTION:

Committee Management; Notice of Federal Advisory Committee Meeting.

SUMMARY:

The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection (COAC) will meet on December 7, 2011, in Washington, DC. The meeting will be open to the public. As an alternative to on-site attendance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will also offer a live webcast of the COAC meeting via the Internet.

DATES:

COAC will meet on Wednesday, December 7, 2011, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Please note that the meeting may close early if the committee has completed its business.

Registration: If you plan on attending via webcast, please register online at https://apps.cbp.gov/​te_​registration/​?w=​65 by close-of-business on December 5, 2011. Please feel free to share this information with interested members of your organizations or associations. If you plan on attending on-site, please register either online at https://apps.cbp.gov/​te_​registration/​?w=​64,, or by email to [e-mail], or by fax to [phone] by close-of-business on December 5, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at U.S. Access Board, 1331 F Street NW., Suite 800 in Washington, DC 20004-1111. All visitors report to the lobby in the building.

For information on facilities or services for individuals with disabilities or to request special assistance at the meeting, contact Ms. Wanda Tate, Office of Trade Relations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection at [phone] as soon as possible.

To facilitate public participation, we are inviting public comment on the issues to be considered by the committee as listed in the “Agenda” section below.

Comments must be submitted in writing no later than December 2, 2011, and must be identified by USCBP-2011-0045 and may be submitted by one of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: [e-mail]. Include the docket number in the subject line of the message.
• Fax: [phone]
• Mail: Ms. Wanda Tate, Office of Trade Relations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 5.2A, Washington, DC 20229.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the words “Department of Homeland Security” and the docket number for this action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received by the COAC, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

There will be three public comment periods held during the meeting on December 7, 2011. On-site speakers are requested to limit their comments to three (3) minutes. Contact the individual listed below to register as a speaker. Please note that the public comment period for on-site speakers may end before the time indicated on the schedule that is posted on the CBP web page at the time of the meeting. Comments can also be made electronically anytime during the COAC meeting webcast, but please note that webcast participants will not be able to provide oral comments. Comments submitted electronically will be read into the record during the three (3) public comment periods.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Wanda Tate, Office of Trade Relations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Room 5.2A, Washington, DC 20229; telephone [phone]; facsimile [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice of this meeting is given under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. (Pub. L. 92-463). The COAC provides advice to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on matters pertaining to the commercial operations of CBP and related functions within DHS or the Department of the Treasury.

Agenda

The COAC will hear from the following subcommittees on the topics listed below and then will review, deliberate, and formulate recommendations on how to proceed on those topics:

• Subcommittee: The Global Supply Chain Security Land Border.

Topics: Expansion of the Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, Pre-inspection pilots, and Enhancement of the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program.

• Subcommittee: One U.S. Government at the Border.

Topic: Update on discussions with members of the Border Interagency Executive Council (BIEC).

• Subcommittee: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Enforcement.

Topic: Results of the two IPR surveys (IPR Partnership Program Survey and IPR Distribution Chain Management survey).

• Subcommittee: Antidumping/Countervailing Duty.

Topic: Analysis of various duty collection systems.

Prior to the COAC taking action on any of these topics of the four above-mentioned subcommittees, members of the public will have an opportunity to provide comments orally or, for comments submitted electronically during the meeting, by reading the comments into the record.

The COAC will also receive an update and discuss the following CBP Initiatives and Subcommittee topics that were discussed at its October 4, 2011 meeting:

• Status update on the automation of Ocean and Rail manifest, Cargo Release, and other CBP automation pilots in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE).
• Centralization of single transaction bonds and Coordination of bond issues that apply to other subcommittees—Report by the Bond Subcommittee.
• The Air Cargo Advance Screening (ACAS) pilot and the industry input provided towards finalizing a working strategy document for public release.—Report by the Global Supply Chain Security Air Cargo Subcommittee.
• Status update on feedback received by the agency on previously submitted recommendations. Report by the Trade Facilitation Subcommittee.
• Status update on the feedback received by the agency on previously submitted recommendations. Report by the Role of the Broker Subcommittee.

Dated: November 16, 2011.

Maria Luisa O'Connell,

Senior Advisor for Trade, Office of Trade Relations.