August 16, 2007
     

In May 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection 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 Michigan and New York beginning May 24, 2007. 

 

At that time it was determined, and a CBP source has recently confirmed, that Phase 3 – denial of permit to proceed if an ACE e-Manifest is required but not received – will begin on August 23, 2007. 

 

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

 

CBP has stated that e-Manifest: Truck enforcement discretion for advance cargo information purposes will take place in Michigan and New York in the following phases: 

 

Phase 1 – Informed Compliance (May 24, 2007). Beginning May 24, 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 provided 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 (July 23, 2007). Beginning July 23, 2007, CBP denied a permit to proceed into the U.S. to any carrier required to submit an e-Manifest which arrived without submitting or attempting to submit an e-Manifest. CBP officers may 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 would have ideally taken place in a secondary inspection environment. 

 

(See CBP note for information on the implementation of Phase 2 for Section 321 “mixed loads”, which will be effective September 1, 2007 for Michigan and New York.) 

 

Phase 3 – Denial of Permit to Proceed if an ACE e-Manifest is required but not received (August 23, 2007). Beginning no earlier than August 23, 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 for Timeliness, Accuracy, Etc. 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. 

 

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