Ahern Promises Phased ‘10+2’ Enforcement

(CSCB – American Shipper)

The following is excerpted from the 9 December 2009 edition of “American Shipper”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not use a heavy hand to enforce the Importer Security Filing when the agency lifts its moratorium on issuing penalties for the advance commercial data requirements early next year, Acting Commissioner Jayson Ahern assured more than 800 import-export professionals on Tuesday.

The rule went into effect on January 26 and CBP gave importers and their logistics service providers a year to adapt their systems and processes before beginning enforcement measures.

Under ISF, importers must electronically submit 10 types of information identifying partners and locations responsible for moving a shipment via an ocean container from an overseas manufacturing site to a U.S. receiver – and do so 24 hours prior to vessel loading. Ocean carriers are to provide two sets of data related to their handling of the container.

The import community has faced enormous challenges preparing for the “10+2” rule, most notably tracing back the information to various suppliers, investing in systems to collect the data earlier than ever before and transmitting it to CBP through an approved information pipeline. Read more here.