CBP Announces Phased Enforcement of Mandatory e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information Purposes in WA, AZ, and Certain ND Ports Beginning January 25, 2007
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued an electronic notice which announces the phased enforcement of mandatory Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) electronic manifest: Truck (e-Manifest: Truck) for advance cargo information purposes at all land border ports in Washington and Arizona as well as the ports of Pembina, Neche, Walhalla, Maida, Hannah, Sarles and Hansboro, North Dakota beginning January 25, 2007.
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(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/30/06 news, 06103005, for BP summary of the Federal Register notice announcing mandatory e-Manifest: Truck at these locations beginning January 25, 2007 for advance cargo information purposes. Such advance cargo information must be provided to CBP one hour prior to arrival at the first port, or 30 minutes prior to arrival for FAST participants.)
e-Manifest: Truck Enforcement for Advance Cargo Information Purposes to be Implemented in at Least 3 Phases
CBP states that the e-Manifest: Truck enforcement discretion for advance cargo information purposes will take place in the following phases:
Phase 1 - Informed Compliance (January 25, 2007). Beginning January 25, 2007, CBP will begin to exercise enforcement discretion in the form of an informed compliance period of at least 60 days. This period may be extended based on system performance issues and operational readiness. During this period, CBP officers working in primary lanes will provide an informed compliance notice to the driver of any conveyance that fails to meet the requirement.
Phase 2 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest attempt (March 26, 2007). Beginning no earlier than March 26, 2007, CBP will deny a permit to proceed into the U.S. to any carrier, required to submit an e-Manifest, which arrives without submitting or attempting an e-Manifest. CBP officers may accept the ACE e-Manifest cover sheet as initial proof of this attempt.
CBP notes that prior to the beginning of this phase, CBP officers will also be provided with a process they can use to check for transmission attempts by carriers. CBP adds that validation of e-Manifest participation should ideally take place in a secondary inspection environment.
Phase 3 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest (April 26, 2007). Beginning no earlier than April 26, 2007 and continuing as ongoing Trade Act enforcement, CBP will deny a permit to proceed into the U.S. for any truck required to submit an e-Manifest that arrives at one of the ports requiring mandatory use of the e-Manifest without first successfully transmitting an e-Manifest for that trip.
For egregious violations, a monetary penalty ($5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses) may be issued to the driver in care of the carrier under 19 USC 1436 (penalties for violations of arrival, reporting, entry, and clearance requirements). CBP explains that egregious violators are defined as those carriers that make no attempt to comply with the requirements.
Additional phases. Once CBP achieves substantial compliance with the requirements to file e-Manifests, additional phases will be announced for enforcement of other Trade Act elements including timeliness of submission, accuracy of data, and completeness of e-Manifests.
(CBP's notice also provides information on the exemptions from the e-Manifest: Truck requirement. See future issue of ITT for summary of these exemptions.)
CBP contact- James Swanson james.d.swanson@dhs.gov
CBP electronic notice (dated 01/09/07) available via email, by emailing a request to documents@brokerpower.com