CBP Approves January "Contingency Plan" for Those That Normally Pay Annual Land Border Decal and Transponder Fees
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice announcing that it has approved a contingency plan to allow conveyances that normally pay annual land border decal and transponder user fees to be cleared by CBP without a per crossing/arrival payment from January 1-31, 2009.
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This contingency plan does not affect the collection of per crossing/arrival fees for conveyances that normally pay per crossing/arrival.
Contingency Plan Authorized Due to Late Delivery of DTOPS
The contingency plan has been authorized due to the late delivery of the Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPS), which did not go live until November 17, 2008, and left annual land border decal and transponder fee subscribers with an abbreviated window of opportunity to submit their electronic applications for annual fee renewals.
As a result, internal CBP resources are stressed to actually process all the applications for annual fee renewals by the end of the calendar year.
In Order to be Eligible, Operators Must Submit Certain Evidence
In order to be eligible for the waiver of the per crossing/arrival fee from January 1-31, 2009, commercial and private conveyance operators must present the following evidence:
Commercial Conveyances:
- 8 transponder, or
DTOPS transmission receipt, or
CBP Finance Center receipt, or
Verification through the ACE system of the 2008 annual fee payment
Private Conveyances:
- 8 transponder, or
DTOPS transmission receipt, or
CBP Finance Center receipt, or
CBP Form 368 (Cash Collection or Receipt)
If a conveyance is covered by an active 2008 transponder, CBP will not require proof of payment for the 2009 renewal to waive the per crossing/arrival fee.
(CBP has also posted a chart providing Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) fees for commercial vessels, commercial vehicles, barge/bulk carriers from Canada and Mexico, etc.; other customs fees for user fee airports; agriculture fees for commercial vehicles, etc. In addition, CBP has posted a frequently asked questions document on user fees. See links below.)
(See ITT's Online Archives or 11/18/08 news, 08111815, for BP summary announcing that DTOPS went live on November 17th, etc.
See ITT's Online Archives or 12/16/08 news, 08121625, for BP summary of CBP posting a notice on DTOPS order status information.)
CBP contact- Chris Kennally (202) 344-2476
Contingency plan notice (dated 12/16/08) available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/whats_new.xml
Fee rates chart (dated 12/17/08) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/inspections_carriers_facilities/advisory_committee/fee_rates.ctt/fee_rates.xls
User fee FAQs (posted 12/16/08) available at http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/inspections_carriers_facilities/advisory_committee/user_fees_faqs.ctt/user_fees_faqs.doc