November 20, 2003

The following article is excerpted from “The Journal of Commerce” edition of 20 November 2003.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Thursday announced the release of final rules that will require all carriers to electronically report cargo data before shipments arrive in or depart U.S. ports and borders.

Ridge also voiced his support for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, and promised that import compliance policy will not be diluted under the Department of Homeland Security's regional organization plan.  His remarks came during the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's fourth annual trade symposium. Nearly 600 importers, brokers and carriers attended the event.

The rules, which Congress ordered in the Trade Act of 2002, will take effect Dec. 4. The announcement by Ridge and Customs Commissioner Robert C. Bonner signaled the transmittal of the final rules to the Senate Commerce and House Ways and Means committees for view, one of the law's requirements.

The rules have changed little from a preliminary version that Customs released last August. In summary, the advance reporting requirements:

Ocean:

Inbound: 24 hours before loading at a foreign port
Outbound: 24 hours before departure

Air and air courier:

Inbound: Four hours before arrival in the U.S., except "wheels up" for shipment arriving in the northern Western Hemisphere
Outbound: Two hours before departure from the U.S.  Customs will publish interim rules for air courier packages weighing less than 16 ounces in the near future

Truck:
 

Inbound: One hour before arrival at the border; 30 minutes for  participants in the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program
Outbound: One hour before arrival at the border

Rail:

Inbound: Two hours before arrival
Outbound: Four hours before shipment is coupled to a locomotive going to a foreign destination

Bonner said that enforcement of the new rules will be phased in as it was when the 24-hour advance filing rule for vessel cargo manifests went into effect a year ago. Effective dates for some outbound cargo will coincide with new electronic filing requirements in the Automated Export System.

Ridge put the department's stamp of approval on C-TPAT, something members of the trade have been urging Homeland Security to do. He said the program provides economic as well as security benefits. …

Ridge also pledged that Customs policies for import compliance will be handled at the national level, while Homeland Security establishes a regional network. Members of the trade have worried that regionalization will lead to discontinuities in the handling of import entries.

"You must know that Commissioner Bonner is committed to uniformity of trade standards and tariffs," Ridge said. "There will be no surprises."