CESAC DISCUSSES ELECTRONIC FILING, EXTENDS INVITATION TO NVOCCS

CESAC DISCUSSES ELECTRONIC FILING, EXTENDS INVITATION TO NVOCCS Attendees at a meeting of ocean, rail and ground carriers expressed approval of a new ruling proposed by the U.S. Customs Service calling for non-vessel operating common carriers to file manifests to the agency 24 hours prior to loading their cargo on ships bound for America.
   The Customs Electronic Systems Action Committee, an industry coalition of carriers, on Tuesday met with Customs officials to discuss the ruling posted in the Federal Register Aug. 8.
   The proposed rule states that if Customs does not receive complete cargo manifest data from carriers or NVOCCs 24 hours prior to loading a vessel, Customs may delay “issuance of a permit to unload the entire vessel.” And, according to Section 113.64 of the ruling, NVOCCs, as well as carriers, would be required to pay $5,000 for each violation.
   An ocean carrier representative of CESAC supported the measure, adding that this proposed rule brings NVOCCs into the playing field with carriers by making them comply with the advanced transmission rule. Currently, NVOCCs submit minimal house-level bill of lading and manifest data to ocean carriers.
   “If they want to be treated like carriers, they ought to act like carriers,” the representative said. Another CESAC member added their approval, adding that such a proposed rule including NVOCCs “puts them under more scrutiny.”
   Carlos Rodriguez, a representative of the NVO-Government Affairs Conference, a Washington-based organization for NVOCCs, said'that, in general, his group supports the proposed rule. “However, there is something that jumps off the page at me,” he said of the proposed rule. “Some of the data elements, that are required, such as port rotations, appear to be information that is not in the hands of the NVOCCs, but exclusively in the hands of the carriers.”
   Near the meeting’s end, CESAC members said they intended to invite a representative of NVO-GAC to be a member of the board of directors.