April 21, 2006

US Customs and Border Protection takes next step in Trade Act enforcement

The following article is excerpted from the 20 April 2006 edition of “Canadian Transportation & Logistics”.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is moving ahead with Phase Four Enforcement under the Trade Act. The move is intended to improve compliance with the advance cargo information requirements contained in the US Trade Act,… .

In Phase Four, carriers who are not participating in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) will no longer be able to rely on a copy of a fax transmission to a customs broker to indicate an attempt to comply with the Trade Act's advance cargo information rules if they arrive at the border and CBP has not received advance cargo information.

If CBP has not received advance cargo information from the broker when the truck arrives, the truck will not be allowed to proceed. This policy is being put into place at ACE-implemented ports, most notably Blaine, Pembina, and the Blue Water and Ambassador bridges, and surrounding, smaller ports, on May 15. It will be implemented at other ports 30 days after the date ACE was deployed and operational.

The full details of Phase Four enforcement can be found at:

http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/import/communications_to_trade/advance_info/phase4_implement.xml