CBP Exercises Enforcement Discretion for One Month for New Ultimate Consignee and Northern Border Line Item Reporting Requirements (Both Took Effect October 1, 2004)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently issued policy changes that took effect on October 1, 2004 regarding (i) at all ports of entry, the identification of the ultimate consignee at time of entry or release and the reporting format for the U.S./Foreign ultimate consignee number, and (ii) at the northern border ports of entry, the reporting of all line items on Border Cargo Selectivity (BCS) entries.
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Discretionary Enforcement Period for Month of October 2004
CBP has now informed the ports that during October 1, 2004 through October 31, 2004, CBP will exercise enforcement discretion regarding these policy changes, which will substitute informed compliance notification for rejection of entries.
Written Statement to be Issued During Discretionary Enforcement Period
During this period, for those entries found to be noncompliant, CBP states that its officers at release and summary will attach a written notice to the entry package or write the entry number on a notice containing the following statement, as applicable:
for the ultimate consignee requirement. "The attached entry has been submitted without providing required ultimate consignee numbers. Further violations of this policy may lead to rejection of the entry or entry summary by CBP and/or penalty action under broker compliance requirements."
for the line item reporting requirement. "The attached BCS entry has been submitted without classification of all line items as required. Further violations of this policy may lead to rejection of the entry by CBP and/or penalty action under broker compliance requirements."
CBP states that this limited enforcement discretion should, in the interim, provide CBP with sufficient information to perform its primary mission of providing security at U.S. borders while allowing legitimate trade to continue to occur.
CBP adds that the informed compliance approach should also allow trade partners to measure the effectiveness of their compliance programs for these initiatives.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 09/20/04 news, 04092005 for BP summary of CBP notice on reporting all line items for Northern Border BCS entries. See ITT's Online Archives or 09/22/04 news, 04092205 for BP summary on the policy/reporting change for the ultimate consignee at time of entry or release.)
CBP instructions (not yet issued as an administrative message or posted to CBP's web site) available by email or fax, by emailing documents@brokerpower.com