CBP eyes fall launch of import trade data rule

CBP eyes fall launch of import trade data rule Importers and their agents could begin submitting additional commercial information about their overseas orders to U.S. authorities for advance security screening as early as September 2007 under a phased implementation plan tentatively scheduled to begin by the end of summer, U.S. Customs Commissioner Ralph Basham said Thursday at the agency’s annual Trade Symposium in Washington.
   U.S. Customs and Border Protection is rapidly working to issue by spring a proposed rule for collecting a dozen advance shipping data elements — known as the “10+2” proposal — that can be run through agency computers to check for anomalies that indicate which of the millions of containers headed to the United States should be inspected for terrorist or criminal ties by automated means.
   Basham said he wants to resolve many issues with the plan, such as defining the exact data elements — actually data fields with multiple data elements ' as well as which party in the process is responsible for transmitting the data and which systems to use. The two additional messages are to be supplied by ocean carriers. The industry-led Commercial Operations Advisory Group is under tight deadline to help refine CBP's draft proposal, but sources indicate the process is already slipping behind schedule to complete a final draft in time for the group's next meeting on Feb. 9.
   Congress included language in the new SAFE Port Act requiring the Department of Homeland Security to issue regulations within one year for collecting advance electronic shipping data prior to vessel loading.
   During a separate press conference, Basham said the end of summer is CBP's target date, 'not a drop dead date,' for implementing the new security program, which has many importers concerned about their ability to gather data they don't normally collect and the need to reprogram their computer systems.
   CBP officials expressed understanding that the new requirements would be difficult to meet for some companies, but stressed that the phased implementation would be geared to allow those companies extra time and counseling to meet the reporting rules.
   Basham suggested that importers who do not currently have access to all the required information may be initially allowed to submit a subset of the 10 data elements, which include names and addresses for manufacturers, consolidators, stuffing locations, buyers and receivers of the goods.
   'I can’t actually articulate the exact numbers of requirements,' that each company will be mandated to provide, Basham told reporters. 'But we're not going to be able to say that on a date certain all those requirements go into full requirement stage and implementation. For us to say that on Aug. 15 this whole thing is going to be put into implementation without any grace period' is going too far, he said.
   'I just don't know which elements we'll start with. Some are readily available and others are more difficult,' Basham said, adding that he wants to hear back from the trade community about how quickly companies can supply the information.
   'Some companies say they can give us all the data today and others have difficulty to produce certain of the data elements' because of the complexity of their supply chains, said Michael Mullen, assistant commissioner for international affairs and trade relations.
   Smaller companies are also hard pressed to track down information in countries in which they don’t have a presence.
   'So that's going to be the phased implementation, working with those companies who have problems with some of those elements because of the nature of their supply chain, not because they are doing anything wrong,' Mullen said.
   The idea is to get the ball rolling and work through individual challenges rather than hold up the process indefinitely until every potential scenario is ironed out, he emphasized.
   'It's better to get that out there with a phased-in, informed compliance implementation so that we’re dealing with real problems, not hypothetical problems,' Mullen said.
   Basham put his reputation on the line to categorically reject suggestions that the advance security information would be used to penalize companies for trade compliance violations.
   'It's not going to be used for that purpose. The purpose of '10+2' is security and transparency into that supply chain. It is not going to be used for compliance purposes,' he said.
   Importers and customs brokers 'will hold us accountable if they find we have misled them and we do in fact start to use that information for compliance.
   'I’m telling you I'm personally accountable to assure them that we are not moving in that direction,' Basham said.