GAO recommends minor fixes for ISF

GAO recommends minor fixes for ISF    Industry and government implementation of the Importer Security Filing this year has gone quite smoothly, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection should tighten some of the justifications for the original rule and speed up integrating the data into its antiterrorist screening system, a congressional watchdog agency said Tuesday.
   The ISF, or '10+2' rule, went into full effect in January requiring importers to submit 10 pieces of data, such as the name and location of the manufacturer, associated with international shipments moving by ocean container. The data must be electronically transmitted 24 hours prior to cargo loading on the vessel and carriers must subsequently provide their vessel stow plans and container status messages.
   CBP has taken a graduated enforcement approach, refraining from blanket inspections of shipments that lack an ISF in favor of selective checks for shippers with poor compliance records.
   The Government Accountability Office said CBP could have done a better job in its 2008 rulemaking explaining how it picked specific data elements for '10+2,' why it didn't include others and why bulk cargo is exempted. It also said CBP's estimates of industry's cost to implement the rule, and resulting benefits from potentially thwarting a terrorist attack, were more definitive than available data justified.
   As of July, 80 percent of shipments entering U.S. commerce complied with the ISF requirements, according to CBP figures cited in the report. If only U.S.-bound shipments are included, the compliance rate was close to 86 percent, with the total dragged down by in-transit shipments.
   CBP told the GAO its goal is to increase compliance to 95 percent by this fall.
   Importers are only using the allowances for flexible data inputs about 2 percent of the time, in part because it can cost more to file mandatory updates when claiming inadequate data in advance rather than using the regular amendment process on an as-needed basis. CBP said importers also have a high rate of errors when using the flexible filing option.
   Under the rule, importers that lack complete information can leave the container stuffing location and consolidator fields empty and file them up to 24 hours prior to arrival at a U.S. port. They are also allowed to provide a range of answers for the manufacturer, ship-to-party, country of origin, and U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule number if they don't have specific details at the timing of shipping overseas.
   The GAO noted that CBP has not finalized how it will identify risk factors in ISF data and assign a weighted score for use in its automated targeting system (ATS). That means that so far the data isn't being systematically analyzed for national security threats, although it is being used to double-check parties involved in a transaction against federal crime databases. But the submission of vessel stowage plans by carriers has led to the identification of more than 1,000 containers placed on board without required manifests, closing a potential security loophole.
   CBP agreed with the recommendation and said the ISF scoring rules will be programmed in ATS by the end of November.
   The GAO recommended that Customs follow management best practices such as setting project time frames and milestones to complete testing.
   CBP has the authority to hold a shipment from being loaded on a vessel if an ISF has not been filed on time, but such enforcement has not caused any measurable delays for the trade industry so far, the GAO said. None of the 30 importers interviewed for the report stated that their trade flow had been impacted by ISF enforcement such as shipment inspections or holds.
   CBP officials said that while there have not been many instances of major carrier companies failing to submit vessel stow plans, some smaller companies may have had trouble adapting to the requirement because they had not previously maintained vessel stow plan information. CBP has since developed a spreadsheet format that smaller carriers can use to submit vessel stow plan information, rather than submitting it through specialized stow plan software.
   To read the full GAO report, go to https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10841.pdf ' Eric Kulisch