Reminder: Phased Enforcement of Mandatory e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information Purposes Begins July 12, 2007 for NH, VT, and Rest of ND Ports
In April 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted to its Web site a notice announcing the phased enforcement of mandatory Automated Commercial Environment electronic manifest: Truck for advance cargo information purposes at all land border ports in New Hampshire and Vermont as well as the remaining land border ports in North Dakota - St. John, Fortuna, Ambrose, Carbury, Noonan, Dunseith, Sherwood, Antler, Northgate, Westhope, and Portal, beginning July 12, 2007.
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(Phased enforcement for the North Dakota ports of Pembina, Neche, Walhalla, Maida, Hannah, Sarles and Hansboro, as well as all land border ports in Washington and Arizona began on January 25, 2007.)
Enforcement of e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information to be Phased-in
In its April 2007 notice, CBP stated that e-Manifest: Truck enforcement discretion for advance cargo information purposes would take place in New Hampshire, Vermont, and the above-listed North Dakota ports in the following phases:
Phase 1 - Informed Compliance (July 12, 2007).Beginning July 12, 2007, CBP will begin to exercise enforcement discretion in the form of an informed compliance period of at least 60 days. This period may be extended based on system performance issues and operational readiness. During this period, CBP officers working in primary lanes will provide an informed compliance notice to the driver of any conveyance that fails to meet the requirement.
Phase 2 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest Attempt (no earlier than September 12, 2007).Beginning no earlier than September 12, 2007, CBP will deny a permit to proceed into the U.S. to any carrier required to submit an e-Manifest which arrives without submitting or attempting to submit an e-Manifest. CBP officers may accept the ACE e-Manifest cover sheet as initial proof of this attempt.
Prior to the beginning of this phase, CBP officers will also be provided with a process they can use to check for transmission attempts by carriers. Validation of e-Manifest participation should ideally take place in a secondary inspection environment.
Phase 3 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest (no earlier than October 12, 2007).Beginning no earlier than October 12, 2007 and continuing as ongoing Trade Act enforcement, CBP will deny a permit to proceed into the U.S. for any truck required to submit an e-Manifest that arrives at one of the ports requiring mandatory use of the e-Manifest without first successfully transmitting an e-Manifest for that trip.
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). Egregious violators are defined as those carriers that make no attempt to comply with the requirements.
Additional phases for timeliness, accuracy, etc.Once CBP achieves substantial compliance with the requirements to file e-Manifests, additional phases will be announced for enforcement of other Trade Act elements including timeliness of submission, accuracy of data, and completeness of e-Manifests.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/04/07 news, 07050405, for BP summary announcing the phased enforcement, which includes information on shipments exempt from e-Manifest: Truck for advance cargo information purposes, shipment types not specifically exempted, but use of e-Manifest not required, and links to previous BP summaries regarding e-Manifest: Truck.)
CBP enforcement plan (dated 04/30/07), available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/e-manifests_info/trade_act_enforce/ace_cluster_4.xml