January 2010

Importer Security Filing or “10+2”

As of January 26, 2010, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will require that all importers comply with the Importer Security Filing (ISF), also popularly known as “10 +2” because of the 10 elements required to be provided to CBP relevant to the importer and 2 elements required to be provided to CBP relevant to the carrier.  CBP has announced that as of January 26, 2010, it will also begin to issue penalties of either $5,000 or $10,000 against importers who fail to comply with ISF; something CBP calls its “enforcement phase”. Importers who self-file ISF, or their agents, must understand the changes, comply with them, and, when a penalty is issued by CBP, respond in writing to mitigate the penalty.

Fortunately, on January 28, 2010, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the South Florida Chapter of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), is hosting a seminar entitled “ISF 10+2 Reality Sinks In…What’s Next?”  To register or learn more about CSCMP, click on http://www.cscmp-sofl.org/events.shtml. The impressive panel includes customs brokers, importers, carriers, consultants, an attorney, and Richard DiNucci, Director, Secure Freight Initiative, CBP Headquarters.

As you should know, the ISF is filed via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) or the Automated Manifest System (AMS), and it is always sent to the Automated Targeting System (ATS) for analysis and review by CBP officials.  Hence, it is obvious that CBP will use the ISF information to target, stop, and examine imported shipments.  Incorrectly or incompletely filing ISF will result in increased delays of imported shipments.  Moreover, CBP has […]

January 26, 2010 – Do You Have An ISF Plan?

During the annual Customs Symposium, which took place December 8-10, 2009, Richard DeNucci, the Director of Customs Office of Field Operations, Trade Initiatives, discussed how CBP will enforce ISF(Importer Security Filing, aka 10+2) penalties, beginning January 26, 2010, and provided interesting statistics thus far. ISF will require both importers and carriers to submit additional information pertaining to cargo to CBP before the cargo is brought into the United States by vessel. FAQ’s on ISF filing may be found here.  Non compliant ISF filings can be costly, at $5,000 per violation.

Mr. DeNucci stated that Customs would be “reasonable and equitable” with ISF timeliness issues and will use the “least amount of force to ensure compliance.” When addressing DNL’s (do not loads), Mr. DeNucci stated this “is not something CBP will take lightly.” I personally am interested to see how this plays out, as CBP’s mitigation guidelines are not that forgiving.

From January 26, 2009 to December 6, 2009, there were 3.65 million ISF filings, and 103,000 ISF filers. The most impressive part of this statistic is that 95% of these filers received an acceptance rate, meaning only 5% of the filers would have potentially faced ISF penalties for issues with filing. During this same time period, CBP reviewed more than 6,475 stow plans and 106 million container status messages. Interestingly, CBP noticed the highest volumes of filings on a Friday – apparently everyone is either a procrastinator or a go-getter, filing early.

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