White House review of “10+2” said to move forward
White House review of “10+2” said to move forward
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official on Friday backed Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff’s forecast a day earlier that the Office of Management and Budget appears on track to release by year’s end the proposed rulemaking for an advance security filing by importers or their agents.
Richard DiNucci, director of the Secure Freight Initiative office and the point man for developing the so-called “10+2” rule, said CBP has already answered questions submitted by OMB after receiving the draft rulemaking from DHS in late October. The import industry is nervous about the rulemaking because it could significantly alter shipping schedules while information linking the manufacturer to the origin and tariff number of each product is collected and submitted 24 hours prior to vessel departure. Trade professionals have been on the lookout for the notice of proposed rulemaking since last spring.
DiNucci said all signs point to a late December publication of the rule in the Federal Register.
“There’s probably no need for candlelight vigils,” he said.
But Rep. Bennie Thomson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sent a letter on Monday to Chertoff asking why the rulemaking process appears stalled if all appropriate consultation with industry has been completed.
In the interim, CBP has continued with its Advance Trade Data Initiative in which several importers have voluntarily transmitted pieces of commercial data through various pipelines to help the agency understand the best way to file and manage the data. DiNucci said CBP has received between 10,000 and 20,000 shipment data submissions so far and millions of container status messages from ocean carriers, which are being analyzed to see if faults are the result of timing issues associated with getting the data from suppliers, or a lack of available information for some required fields.
The test activity is expected to provide real world experience ahead of implementation so that CBP can share lessons learned with the trade community on the best ways to file the advance data. ' Eric Kulisch