CBP to Reject Truck e-Manifests if Submitted Without Approved WHTI Docs for Drivers Effective June 1, 2009
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message stating that as of June 1, 2009 electronic truck manifests submitted via the Automated Commercial Environment without approved Western Hemisphere Travel (WHTI) documents for drivers will be rejected.
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(In April 2008, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule which, effective June 1, 2009, requires U.S. citizens and nonimmigrant citizens of Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico to present a government-approved document that denotes both citizenship and identity when entering the U.S. from within the Western Hemisphere at sea and land ports of entry. See ITT's Online Archives or 04/04/08 news, 08040405, for BP summary of the final rule.)
Number of WHTI Compliant Documents in ACE to be Expanded
To date, support of WHTI compliant travel documents in the ACE Secure Data Portal is limited to a Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card, Passport, Laser Visa, U.S. Visa, Permanent Resident Card, Reentry Permit and Refugee Permit. If drivers have one of these WHTI compliant travel documents and are reporting them in e-Manifests then no further action is required.
On April 11, 2009, however, the ACE portal will be updated to accommodate the following seven additional WHTI compliant travel documents:
- Enhanced Driver's License (EDL)1
- SENTRI Card
- NEXUS Card
- U.S. Passport Card
- Native American Indian/INAC
- U.S. Military ID Document
- U.S. Merchant Mariner Document
CBP notes that the driver must have the actual travel document that is reported in the e-Manifest available to show CBP upon arrival, if requested.
Changes to Naming Convention for Existing Travel Documents
Additionally, the following changes to the naming convention for existing travel documents will be implemented on April 11, 2009:
- "Reentry Permit" will be changed to "DHS Re-Entry Permit "
- "Refugee Permit " will be changed to "DHS Refugee Travel Document Number"
- "U.S. Visa Number" will be changed to two separate documents: the "U.S. VISA Immigrant Number" and the "U.S. VISA Non-Immigrant Number".
- The "Permanent Resident Document Number" will be separated into the "A1-US Alien Registration Card Number," "A-2- U.S. Alien Registration Card Number," the "C1-Permanent Resident Card Number (1998-2003)," and the "C2-Permanent Resident Card Number"
CBP states that carriers are encouraged to review their ACE driver accounts to ensure their drivers have one of these WHTI approved documents prior to June 1, 2009.
1An Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) is a state issued driver's license that provides additional information not included in a traditional driver's license or a commercial driver's license (CDL) such as citizenship information. An EDL has a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip and a Machine Readable Zone (MRZ) or barcode that CBP officers can read electronically if the RFID is not available. An EDL will satisfy both requirements to supply a driver's license and a travel document in an e-Manifest.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 01/23/09 news, 09012330 9, for BP summary of WHTI EDI document code changes.
See ITT's Online Archives or 02/19/09 news, 09021930 2, for BP summary of ACE e-Manifest portal changes due to WHTI.
See ITT's Online Archives or 03/12/09 news, 09031225 6, for BP summary announcing a correction being made to ANSI X12 350 message for WHTI deployment.
CSMS 09-000141 (dated 03/30/09) available at http://apps.cbp.gov/csms/viewmssg.asp?Recid=17529&page=&srch_argv=09-000141&srchtype=all&btype=&sortby=&sby