CBP Updates its FAQ on ACE e-Manifest for Advance Cargo Information Purposes (Covers Mandatory e-Manifest: Truck and Entry/Release Options)

According to CBP sources, this FAQ will be corrected and further updated.

CBP has added one new FAQ on its enforcement policy, and has revised other FAQs. One revised FAQ provides details on the exceptions to the use of ACE e-manifest: Truck for advance cargo notification purposes for those ports where ACE e-Manifest for this purpose is mandatory. (See ITT's Online Archives or 11/06/06 news, 06110615, for BP summary of original FAQ.)

(CBP is in the process of making ACE e-Manifest: Truck mandatory for advance cargo information purposes at land border ports that have tested ACE. The first group - land border ports in Washington and Arizona as well as certain land border ports in North Dakota, are mandatory for such purposes effective January 25, 2007. The second group - all land border ports in California, Texas, and New Mexico, will be mandatory for such purposes effective April 19, 2007. (See ITT's Online Archives or 01/24/07 news, 07012415, for BP reminder of the January 25, 2007 effective date for the first group of ports, and CBP's phased enforcement plan. See ITT's Online Archives or 01/19/07 news, 07011905, for BP summary announcing the second group of ports where e-Manifest: Truck will become mandatory.)

One New FAQ Added

Enforcement policy. The new FAQ asks how will mandatory e-Manifest: policy be enforced?

CBP answers that as implementation of the policy begins at the first group of ports on January 25, 2007, CBP intends to exercise enforcement discretion in the form of informed compliance notices given to carriers who arrive without submitting or attempting an e-Manifest.

This discretionary period will last for a limited period of time (approximately 60 days) and will be followed by enforcement action against carriers who fail to participate. Enforcement action will take the form of a denial of permit to proceed into the U.S. or monetary penalties of up to $5000. CBP intends, for a short period of time during this first enforcement phase, to continue to exercise limited enforcement discretion for those carriers who are attempting to file e-Manifests.

CBP adds that at some point it will begin to fully enforce the mandatory e-Manifest regulations for all parties subject to the requirements who fail to file an e-Manifest.

(In a more recent notice, CBP states that for the first group of ports, Phase 1 will be an informed compliance period of at least 60 days; Phase 2 will follow and last 30 days and will deny a permit to proceed if the e-Manifest for advance cargo notification purposes isn't submitted or attempted; Phase 3 will deny the permit to proceed if such an e-Manifest isn't successfully transmitted. Also during Phase 3, for egregious violations, a monetary penalty ($5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses) may be issued to the driver in care of the carrier under 19 USC 1436 (penalties for violations of arrival, reporting, entry, and clearance requirements). Moreover, other enforcement phases could follow. See ITT's Online Archives or 01/12/07 news, 07011205, for BP summary of this notice.)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 10/30/06 and 01/19/07 news, 06103005 and 07011905, for BP summaries of CBP's announcement of the implementation of mandatory e-Manifest: Truck at all land border ports in Washington, Arizona, as well as certain ports in North Dakota effective January 25, 2007, and at all land border ports in California, Texas and New Mexico effective April 19, 2007.

Various FAQs Updated, Amended

A number of FAQs have been updated, including one on the use of entry/release systems other than ACE to comply with the advance cargo information requirement (which also discusses the temporary exceptions to e-Manifest, etc.), as follows:

Use of entry/release systems other than ACE to comply with advance cargo information requirement. CBP has amended its answer to the question: "will carriers be able to continue using other entry/release systems to comply with the Trade Act of 2002 advance cargo information rule?" to read as follows:

Not at border crossings that have implemented the mandatory e-Manifest policies. All commercial cargo, with certain exceptions, is subject to advance cargo information requirements pursuant to 19 CFR 123.92(b) and will require the filing of advance cargo information in the form of either an e-Manifest or a FAST/NCAP electronic declaration prior to the arrival of a conveyance at an applicable U.S. land border crossing.

The advance cargo rule was enacted to help combat terrorism and otherwise unsafe or illegal transports by requiring the submission of cargo information electronically, in advance of the arrival of the conveyance (See 69 FR 51007, published August 17, 2004).

Temporary exceptions enumerated in the above referenced Federal Register notice include merchandise which is informally entered on Customs Form (CF) 368 or CF 368A (cash collection or receipt); merchandise unconditionally or conditionally free, not exceeding $2000 in value, eligible for entry on CF 7523; domestic cargo transiting Canada or Mexico; and products of the United States being returned, for which entry is prescribed on CF 3311 (US goods returned).

However it should be noted that with the exception of CF 368A, the above manifest shipment release types can be reported as shipments on an e-Manifest as well as Section 321 (certain goods valued under $200); goods astray; empty trucks and truck cabs¹, and merchandise which is listed in General Note 3e² as not subject to the tariff schedule (e.g. records for business operations, corpses, articles exported from the U.S. which are returned in 45 days after such exportation as undeliverable and which have not left the custody of the carrier or foreign customs service). The appropriate Customs Forms and supporting documentation will be required in addition to the electronic manifest.

Merchandise entered under a CF 3299 (household effects, tools of trade) are NOT listed under 123.92(b) as being exempted from advance cargo information requirements and will required an e-Manifest to be filed. Although a truck hauling Instruments of International Traffic (ITT) is required to present a manifest they are not required to file an e-Manifest however the filing of an e-Manifest is acceptable and recommended.

During the transition period at ports where ACE is not available or e-Manifest use is not yet mandatory, current processes will continue to be used to comply with the rule until the mandatory policy is implemented, including Free and Secure Trade (FAST) National Customs Automation Program (NCAP) electronic messages.

The advance cargo rule mandated pre-filing of an entry at least one hour prior to the arrival of the truck (or thirty minutes for FAST participants). Through use of the Pre-Arrival Processing System (PAPS) the carrier was able to temporarily use the pre-filed entry to comply with the advance cargo rule. At the time of the advance cargo rule implementation, there was no e-Manifest capability. Use of PAPS implied a barcode would be used to enable a CBP officer to pull up the entry by scanning, rather than typing an entry number. The barcode is not needed by CBP if an e-Manifest has been filed. The shipment control number (SCN) reported in the shipment record of a manifest will be recorded in the prefiled entry so that the entry and manifest shipment records will be automatically associated upon arrival of the truck.

¹ empty trucks and truck cabs are listed in CBP's ACE-eManifest/Trade Act Enforcement Plan, but not the FAQ. CBP sources state that the FAQ will be updated to match the plan.

² CBP sources state that the exclusions from General Note 1 are listed in General Note 3e

(Note that CBP states that carriers will still be able to continue using other entry/release systems to submit entries and obtain releases. See CBP FAQ document for details.

Also, see the revised FAQ for additional updated FAQs, such as one that states that 'to date, more than 80,000 e-Manifests have been filed since the first one was submitted in 2005. )

Updated CBP ACE e-Manifest FAQ (dated 12/06) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/electronic_truck_manifest_info/emanifest_faq.ctt/emanifest_faq_2.pdf