CBP HQ to "Preview" Port 10+2 Penalties to Ensure Consistency, Etc.
During the November 4, 2009 Departmental Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions (COAC) meeting, CBP officials provided an update on 102.
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Highlights of CBP's comments include:
CBP HQ to "Preview" Ports 10+2 Penalties Using Guidelines
In response to trade concerns about the application of 10+2 penalties once the current "flexible enforcement period" ends and full compliance begins (January 26, 2010), CBP officials told the trade that CBP would be taking a common sense approach.
Officials noted that any 10+2 penalties or liquidated damages to be assessed by the ports would be previewed by CBP Headquarters. Officials added that CBP wants to ensure that penalties are applied consistently. According to officials, CBP is currently working on guidelines for this process.
CBP stated that its goal is not to issue penalties, but to drive compliance, while acknowledging that there are times when the imposition of a penalty will be appropriate. However, officials said that CBP wants to make sure that the penalties are applied in a judicious and well thought out manner. CBP officials also appeared to be willing to consider a trade suggestion that CBP issue warnings, rather than penalties, in certain cases.
CBP Looks at Ways to Make ISF Report Cards More Useful
In response to requests from the trade for additional detail in ISF report cards, CBP stated that it continues to look for ways to provide the additional detail the trade has requested. One COAC member urged CBP to provide transactional data on the report cards, while another COAC member asked CBP to provide the data itself, so that it could be put into a spreadsheet program.
10+2 Final Rule Expected in January 2010
CBP is still on track to issue its 10+2 final rule in January 2010. Officials also noted that CBP has almost completed its structured review.
(In its interim final rule, CBP stated that the purpose of providing flexibility for certain 10+2 data elements was to allow it to conduct a structured review of the data elements, including an evaluation of any specific compliance difficulties that the trade may be encountering with respect to the elements. See ITT's Online Archives or 11/25/08 news, 08112505, for BP summary of the interim rule's structured review provisions.)
COAC Raises Questions Regarding Certain Bond Issues
During the meeting, various COAC members raised questions and concerns about certain bond-related issues, including bond amounts, the exhaustion of a bond's liability, and the timeframe for submitting an electronic copy of the stand alone single transaction ISF bond. CBP officials noted that they are working on some of these issues.
Updated 10+2 Statistics
CBP provided the following updated 10+2 statistics:
Timeliness.ISFs are timely 50-60% of the time.
(CBP officials noted that some filers continue to experience problems with timeliness when using the first bill of lading (BOL) date. CBP added that it Is working on developing a query function so that a filer can see what the bill status is in the Automated Manifest System.)
Over 3.2 million ISFs received.In total, CBP has received over 3.2 million ISFs. According to CBP, by November it was receiving approximately 110,000 ISFs a week.
Error rate less than 3%.The reject rate for ISFs is less than 3%. CBP noted that although a couple of large filers recently began to file their ISFs, causing a temporary spike in the error rate, the error rate has returned to a level under 3%.
10-20% of filers not submitting ISFs. CBP estimates that approximately 10-20% of importers are not yet submitting their ISFs.
CBP Plans to Update FAQs More Frequently, Continue Outreach
CBP officials stated that although they have just completed their second round of 10+2 outreach events, they intend to continue reaching out to the trade. CBP noted that in addition to holding events throughout the U.S., CBP has conducted outreach in China, Belgium, and Germany.
CBP officials told the COAC meeting that they planned to update their 10+2 FAQs more frequently than in the past. (See ITT's Online Archives or 10/15/09 news, 09101530, for the final part of BP's summary of CBP's 10+2 FAQs, with links to previus parts.)