FCS EQUIPS NVOS WITH GLOBAL ONLINE ACCESS TO U.S. CUSTOMS? AMS

FCS EQUIPS NVOS WITH GLOBAL ONLINE ACCESS TO U.S. CUSTOMSÆ AMS    About 20 non-vessel-operating common carriers, including some of the world’s largest, will have the ability today to file their cargo manifests electronically to U.S. Customs using an Internet-based application developed by Flagship Customs Services.
   U.S. Customs announced a new regulation in late October requiring NVOs and ocean carriers to file their manifests for containerized cargoes to the agency at least 24 hours prior to loading on vessels overseas (effective today). Advance manifest data is expected to help the agency screen high-risk containers before they arrive in U.S. seaports.
   NVOs and ocean carriers are strongly urged by Customs to file their manifests through the agency’s Automated Manifest System. Many ocean carriers already use AMS, but the system has only become accessible to NVOs for the first time under the new advance manifest regulation.
   Silver Spring, Md.-based FCS’s system, Import2000, allows NVOs and their overseas offices to process cargo manifests in a variety of ways. The manifest data is stored and filed to AMS from Import2000.
   “It’s extremely flexible,” said Robert Foley, president of FCS in an interview with American Shipper. “The manifest data can be entered regionally or by branch office. It doesn’t matter what the business process is. The system will match it.”
   FCS has developed Customs-related systems for almost decade. Three years ago, the U.S. Census Bureau awarded FCS a contract to create a free Internet-based link for exporters and freight forwarders to file their shipper’s export declarations to the government’s Automated Export System. Today, AESDirect supports 12,000 companies that submit more than 230,000 export declarations a month to the government.
   “Import2000 is no more complex than AESDirect, already used by thousands of companies of all sizes,” Foley said. “We expect similar results for all sizes of NVOs with Import2000.”
   Before applying for Import2000 access, a U.S. or overseas-based NVO must first be licensed with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, obtain a SCAC (Standard Carrier Alpha Code) code through the Alexandria, Va.-based National Motor Freight Traffic Association (https://www.nmfta.org), and have an international carrier bond on file with Customs.
   As part of its Import2000 registration, the NVO must submit a one-page letter of intent to FCS, which includes the NVO’s intent to file and its SCAC code. FCS sets up the Import2000 account and works with Customs to establish the NVO’s AMS account. After this point, the NVO is ready to begin filing manifest-related data to AMS, Foley said.
   To participate in Import2000, NVOs pay a one-time $1,000 implementation fee and are accessed $1 per bill of lading processed in the system. Upon request, FCS will also provide NVOs with classroom training for $1,000 a day or $100 per person for Web-based instruction.
   For more information about Import2000, access online https://www.tradegate2000.com, and click onto the “CSI Solution Center.”