Phased Enforcement of Mandatory e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information Purposes in Maine and Minnesota Begins October 16, 2007

Enforcement of e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information to be Phased-in

CBP states that e-Manifest: Truck enforcement discretion for advance cargo information purposes will take place in Maine and Minnesota in the following phases:

Phase 1 - Informed Compliance (October 16, 2007).Beginning October 16, 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 (December 16, 2007).Beginning no earlier than December 16, 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.

(This includes the requirement of a manifest for Section 321 mixed-loads, but not loads consisting solely of Section 321 eligible merchandise. See BP Note for details.)

Phase 3 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest (January 16, 2008).Beginning no earlier than January 16, 2008 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.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.

Shipments Exempt by Regulation or Otherwise Not Subject to e-Manifest: Truck

CBP states that the following shipments are currently exempt from the advance electronic filing requirement for incoming cargo:

Cargo in transit from point to point in the U.S. after transiting Canada or Mexico

Certain informal entries:

o Merchandise which may be informally entered on CBP Form 368 or 368A (cash collection or receipt);

o Merchandise unconditionally or conditionally free, not exceeding $2,000 in value, eligible for entry on CBP Form 7523; and

o Products of the U.S. being returned, for which entry is prescribed on CBP Form 3311.

The following shipment types are not specifically exempted by the regulation, but use of e-Manifest for advance cargo information purposes is not currently required:

Trips consisting solely of merchandise that is subject to the provisions of 19 USC 1321 (Section 321 releases). If a trip is made up of Section 321 eligible shipments and shipments requiring an entry or in-bond move, all shipments on that trip must be manifested (see BP Note);

Empty trucks and truck cabs; and

Shipment types that are not currently able to be reported on an e-Manifest and are therefore not required even when an e-Manifest has been filed:

• Shipments consisting solely of Instruments of International Traffic (IIT) eligible for release under 19 CFR 10.41(a). CBP notes that IIT can be reported on an e-Manifest as associated to a conveyance or shipment but cannot be used as a shipment release type;
• International mail shipments moving via a contract carrier from a foreign postal service to the U.S. Postal Service;
• Carnets;
• A delivery ticket (CBP Form 6043) for movement to a CBP bonded warehouse or a direct Foreign Trade Zone admission on a CBP Form 214; and
• Shipments imported for the Department of Defense using 19 CFR 10.102/103 as a release mechanism¹.

All other shipments are required to provide advance electronic cargo information via an e-Manifest, including personal effects using CBP Form 3299.

¹Note that these shipment types are newly listed by CBP as not requiring e-Manifests. CBP has amended previous phased enforcement notices to reflect this update. (CBP enforcement plans available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/e-manifests_info/trade_act_enforce/)

(See ITT's Online Archives or 07/19/07 news, 07071905, for BP summary of the Federal Register announcement regarding the mandatory requirement for these ports, which states that, among other things, advance cargo information must be provided to CBP one hour (30 minutes for Free and Secure Trade (FAST) participants), prior to arrival of the conveyance at the first U.S. port of arrival.

See ITT's Online Archives or 09/17/04 news, 04091715, for BP summary of CBP's FAQ on mandatory advance electronic information requirements for truck carriers. See ITT's Online Archives or 12/15/03 news, 03121525, for BP summary of CBP's final rule on the requirements of advance electronic transmission of truck cargo information.

See ITT's Online Archives or 02/08/07 news, 07020805, for BP summary of updated FAQ on ACE e-Manifest.)

CBP states that questions regarding this notice may be directed to the local ports.

CBP enforcement plan for Maine and Minnesota (dated 08/30/07) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/e-manifests_info/trade_act_enforce/ace_cluster_6.xml

BP Note

Coincident with the implementation of Phase 2 for Maine and Minnesota, CBP will begin enforcing for these two states the e-Manifest requirement for advance cargo information purposes for "mixed-loads" (Section 321 eligible shipments included with shipments requiring an entry or in-bond move). (See ITT's Online Archives or 08/16/07 news, 07081605, for details on other states, etc.)