AIR CARGO CARRIERS DECRY U.S. CUSTOMS? ADVANCE MANIFEST PROPOSAL

AIR CARGO CARRIERS DECRY U.S. CUSTOMSÆ ADVANCE MANIFEST PROPOSAL    Air cargo carriers portrayed a doomsday scenario for their industry if the U.S. Customs Service goes ahead with a preliminary idea that would require them to submit electronic versions of manifests 12 hours prior to departure and eight hours ahead of time for express shipments.
   On Tuesday, Customs held the first of four public meetings in Washington to get feedback from carriers, intermediaries and shippers on how to implement pre-departure manifest collection required by Congress.
   During the meeting several air cargo representatives complained that the advance notification proposals would delay shipments and make them uncompetitive with other modes of transportation.
   'Both proposals would simply eliminate the express delivery industry and other businesses that rely on it,' Susan Presti, executive director of the Air Courier Conference of America, told Customs officials.
   'You are adding 12 to 18 hours, even possibly more, to the process' of scheduling and loading planes, said Michael White, managing director of cargo services for the Air Transport Association. The Customs proposals 'will cause more damage to the economy of this country and the economics of the (struggling) airline industry. Just-in-time (logistics) will no longer be what it is,' he said.
   In December Customs began requiring vessel operators and consolidators to provide manifests 24-hours prior to loading containers on ships bound for the United States. Under the Trade Act of 2002, Customs must implement a system by Oct. 1 to collect all cargo manifest information before goods are imported or exported by air, rail or truck.
   Each of the freight transport industries will have different reporting requirements, with inbound trucks requiring a four-hour lead time prior to lading and rail, according to Customs documents. Customs has not released its proposals for rail notification procedures.
   At the air cargo meeting, industry representatives advocated that the U.S. government follow the 'wheels up' draft guideline of the World Customs Organization, so that manifests can be transmitted to Customs while the aircraft is in the air.
   'The regulations as you've proposed them will add one day transit to every shipment in the air industry. That's a huge loss for us,' said Alan Black, a customs compliance manager for FedEx Express.
   But Customs officials said they need enough time for their computer systems and analysts to target suspicious shipments and notify carriers to hold a load deemed as potentially dangerous. They repeatedly emphasized, however, that their original plan is a 'straw man' designed to instigate debate with the trading community and not an indication of Custom's final intent.
   The proposal for a 24-hour deadline for outbound air cargo was created on purpose, for example, to elicit a response and 'we will change that,' Charles Bartoldus, director of border targeting and analysis, told the audience of about 250 people.
   'Our biggest goal is not to hold shipments we don't want to hold because we didn't have the right information,' he added.
   Nonetheless, some observers are skeptical about Customs' claims that it will remain flexible throughout the rulemaking process.
   'The general consensus is (the rule) is a done deal. The straw man is not something they threw out, but what they're thinking really is,' an industry source not affiliated with air cargo told American Shipper after the meeting. 'The lady doth protest too much,' said the source, noting that the 24-hour ocean manifest deadline never deviated from its original proposal.
   ACCA's Presti said the meeting was not adequate to hash out the details of implementing the manifest requirements and suggested Customs quickly establish a government-industry working group to address the unique needs of air express carriers. She said ACCA would present a counter-proposal to serve as a starting point for discussions.
   Meanwhile, interested parties have 10 more days to submit comments and ideas about the manifest reporting system. Comments can be sent to the Office of Trade Regulations at traderelations@customs.treas.gov.
   A forum on truck manifest issues is scheduled for Thursday.