New penalties for gate violations kick in next week

New penalties for gate violations kick in next week U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued more severe guidelines for mitigating penalties against companies that release without permission import cargo flagged for security inspections at ports of entry.
   CBP, as outlined in Thursday's Shippers' NewsWire, has stepped up enforcement to make sure no containers accidentally get discharged from a port due to miscommunication, and is holding terminal operators and other transportation service providers liable for any delivery mistakes.
   Fines for unauthorized removal of containers will be reduced to between $10,000 and $25,000, compared to the traditional practice of automatically lowering penalties to $2,500. A second violation will result in fines ranging between $25,001 and $50,000, and a third penalty will result in mitigated fines of $50,001 and $75,000. In each instance, the fine could also be set at or 75 percent of the domestic value of the cargo, whichever is lower.
   According to the notice posted on CBP's Web site, the new penalty guidelines will go into effect Dec. 6.
   CBP said it could assess penalties against multiple parties involved in the improper movement of a single container.