 Full enforcement of 10+2 begins on Jan. 26 |
Source |
American Shipper |
Post Date |
01/27/2010 |
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Customs and Border Protection began enforcing its Importer Security Filing, or 10+2, rule on Tuesday, ushering in a new era of requirements on importers for more detailed information to help security inspectors target high-risk containers.
The ISF rule, two years in the works, requires importers and carriers to hand Customs 12 data elements not included on the cargo manifest that the agency can use to sharpen its anti-terror screening.
Customs has been working closely with industry groups to get importers prepared, and the agency was hoping the first enforcement day would pass without delays or incidents for more than 115,000 importers already complying with the rule. But they’re concerned that for smaller or infrequent shippers, enforcement may be an abrupt wake-up call.
Customs said that enforcement will take effect in stages. Between now and April 30, enforcement will focus on importers that have never filed the data, and filers that file incomplete data or don’t meet the deadline — 24 hours before a vessel sails from a foreign port.
Beginning in May, Customs will begin holding cargo of noncompliant companies, and begin other enforcement measures such as additional inspections. It will begin assessing liquidated damages beginning in mid-year, and by year’s end the agency will be in full enforcement.
Richard DiNucci, Customs director of the Secure Freight Initiative that includes ISF, said getting data filed in a timely manner has been a problem.
“Everyone has asked how do you determine the time of lading? We’ve gone by provision of the manifest for that specific vessel, but the manifest may be provided to us 48 hour or more in advance,” DiNucci said. In practice the agency has used the vessel’s time of departure as the benchmark.
Calculating a data point to measure timeliness has been difficult, because the number meeting the 24-hour cutoff varies widely by day, DiNucci said.
“The interesting thing is that on Fridays, or days before a long holiday, timeliness rates go through the roof — as high at 70 percent or 80 percent on a Friday,” he said. In recent weeks, he said, timeliness rates are stabilizing.
“This is a matter of experience for everybody. Timeliness is getting better,” DiNucci said. “If importers are making an effort to get the information to us 24 hours prior, and they’re focused on that, I guarantee they’ll be meeting those timelines.”
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