Breakbulk, bulk carriers fret over U.S. Customs manifest enforcement

Breakbulk, bulk carriers fret over U.S. Customs manifest enforcement    U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave inbound breakbulk and bulk vessel operators until today to comply with its automated manifest filing requirement, but many of these companies are still not ready.
   In its initial rulemaking, U.S. Customs required breakbulk and bulk carriers to start electronically filing their inbound manifests by March 4. The agency’s regulation covers mandatory electronic manifest filing provisions in both the 2002 Trade Act and 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act.
   However, the agency said it realized many of these carriers would not be ready by March 4 and gave them another 30 days before taking enforcement action for non-compliance. Enforcement actions include denial of preliminary entry, issuance of penalties at each port of arrival and denial of unlading, U.S. Customs said.
   Many breakbulk and bulk carriers that make infrequent calls to U.S. ports traditionally relied on their vessel agents in the arrival ports to process their inbound cargo manifests with U.S. Customs. This process also included the use of the vessel agents’ Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) numbers and international carrier bonds.
   Under the new regulation, these carriers must use their own SCAC numbers and obtain the necessary $50,000 Activity Code 3 International Carriers bond for customs clearance purposes.
   However, many breakbulk and bulk vessel operators, especially those based overseas, are waiting to obtain their bonds, and fear that U.S. Customs will take swift penalty action when their vessels arrive in American ports.
   The Customs Electronic Systems Action Committee (CESAC) established a bulk carrier working group this week to work with U.S. Customs from a policy and technical perspective to address the Automated Manifest System (AMS) concerns of breakbulk and bulk carriers. “Some breakbulk and bulk carrier operation aspects don’t lend themselves to AMS,” said Lisa Himber, vice president of the Maritime Exchange for the Delaware River and Bay, and head of the CESAC bulk carrier working group, in an interview.
   The CESAC bulk carrier working group already has about 20 industry members and plans to hold a teleconference soon, Himber said.