Phase 3 Enforcement of Mandatory e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information Purposes in NH, VT, and Rest of ND Ports Begins October 12, 2007
U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously 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 Portal1, beginning July 12, 2007.
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At that time it was determined, and CBP sources have recently confirmed, that Phase 3 (denial of permit if no ACE e-Manifest) is scheduled to begin on October 12, 2007.
Enforcement of e-Manifest: Truck for Advance Cargo Information to be Phased-in
In its previous 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 began to exercise enforcement discretion in the form of an informed compliance period of at least 60 days. This period could have been extended based on system performance issues and operational readiness. During this period, CBP officers working in primary lanes were to provide an informed compliance notice to the driver of any conveyance that failed to meet the requirement.
Phase 2 - Denial of Permit if no ACE e-Manifest Attempt (September 12, 2007).Beginning no earlier than September 12, 2007, CBP denied a permit to proceed into the U.S. to any carrier required to submit an e-Manifest that arrived without submitting or attempting to submit an e-Manifest. CBP officers could have accepted the ACE e-Manifest cover sheet as initial proof of this attempt.
Prior to the beginning of this phase, CBP officers were also to be provided with a process they could use to check for transmission attempts by carriers. Validation of e-Manifest participation should have ideally taken place in a secondary inspection environment.
(This included 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 (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.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.
1Phased 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.
(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. Note that there has been an additional exemption for shipments imported for the Department of Defense using 19 CFR 10.102/103 as a release mechanism added to the list, which is reflected in CBP's updated enforcement plan.)
CBP states that questions regarding this notice may be directed to the local ports.
CBP enforcement plan for NH, VT, and the remaining ND ports (updated 08/31/07), available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/about/modernization/carrier_info/e-manifests_info/trade_act_enforce/ace_cluster_4.xml
BP Note
Coincident with the implementation of Phase 2 for New Hampshire, Vermont, and the remaining land border ports in North Dakota, CBP began enforcing 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.)