Hover boards causing heartburn for importers, regulators worldwide

12Feb, 2016

Categories / Customs Brokerage, Freight Forwarding, Import By Jonathan Fung

(Photo credit: Flickr user TechStage, CC By 2.0)

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has intensified their investigation into the safety of so-called hover boards, or battery-powered devices that are steered by balance.

Admittedly, they don’t really hover, and if you’re looking for a great way to describe them, think of them like a Segway without the manual controls.

Hover boards in the US and other countries like the UK have been not only been causing injuries to riders, but spontaneously catching fire. Airlines have banned them in carry on and checked baggage and the UK refused entry of more than 15,000 of them. Amazon UK has directed people to take them to authorized recycling centers for a full refund.

Regulatory agencies and their impact.

Importers of goods into the United States must be aware of the fact that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not the only agency who regulates imported product. There are a host of others, including the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, Fish & Wildlife and the Agriculture Department.

With the upcoming Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) that Customs is making mandatory in 2016, any agency that wishes to hold cargo for non-compliance or testing will notify Customs. Importers will be required to hold those shipments intact until they receive a release authorization or they could face penalties as high as multiple times the value of the merchandise.

Everglory understands CBP and participating government agencies.

We have experience across a variety of product lines and are used to the requirements that these agencies put in place. Trust Everglory to be your partner when it comes to the shipment, entry and delivery of your regulated goods into the United States.

CTPAT Statement of Support

As a proud member of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) CTPAT program since February 9th, 2012, supply chain security continues to be an integral part of the Everglory Logistics, Inc. culture and business processes.

Since its inception in 2001, CTPAT remains a voluntary public-private sector partnership program where members work with CBP to strengthen their international supply chains and ultimately improve border security, protecting the supply chain from criminal activities such as drug trafficking, terrorism, human smuggling, and illegal contraband.

Everglory Logistics, Inc. has developed, and maintains, a multi-layered security program that is consistent with the CTPAT minimum-security criteria (MSC), and remains committed to protecting our organization and supply chain from any illegal or illicit activities.

Security is everyone's responsibility. All employees and business partners, including contractors, service providers, and visitors are educated and must comply with the company's CTPAT policies and procedures that are in place at each facility.