One of the most important changes that will affect the customs brokerage and forwarding industry will be the continued implementation of the International Trade Data System component within Customs and Border Protection's Automated Commercial Environment operating platform and the anticipated consolidation of the ocean carriers.
The development of the International Trade Data System will have a large effect on the customs brokerage community. The amount of data being requested by the 47 governmental agencies that have release functionality for imports is voluminous. Many of the governmental agencies have greatly increased the amount of information required to satisfy their reporting requirements for imports. This has placed a financial strain on the customs broker. The amount of time to collect and enter data has increased tremendously from the paper environment previously utilized by the importing community.
How brokers and importers learn to work in this new environment will be one of the factors in determining the future of the broker in the import process.