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ISF (Importer Security Filing) Correcting Amendments
Corrections to ISF, or 10+2, were published in the Federal Register on July 14 with Customs clarifying a few discrepancies in this interim final rule.
- Importer Security Filings for shipments intended to be transported in-bond as IEs and T&Es must be transmitted no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden aboard a vessel destined to the United States.
- The carrier is responsible for transmitting container status messages (CSMs) for events that occur prior to first arrival of goods at a United States port.
- The Importer Security Filing must be updated if there is a change before the goods enter the limits of the first port of arrival in the United States.
- Amendments to the ISF will be accepted at any time after the goods arrive in a port of the United States.
Full article available:
Ask your AIT sales representative for a copy of our 10+2 Filing handout.
ISF Mitigation Guidelines Published in CBP Bulletin
Customs published the ISF mitigation guidelines in Bulletin Vol. 43, July 17, 2009, No. 28. This article is based on CBP Decision 09-26 as published in the CBP Bulletin and on information previously published by the NCBFAA.
For shipments involving smuggling attempts, fraudulent activities, terrorist activities, and other actions clearly contrary to law, importers can expect to receive no consideration of circumstances for mitigation.
Consideration will be given regarding how and from whom the ISF information was obtained and the importer's ability to verify the information. Information believed to be reasonably true at the time of filing can still be used, and CBP will continue to be flexible as long as the importer is able to demonstrate that it has taken measures to verify the information. In cases when data is beyond the control of the importer (such as rolled bookings and vessel diversions) CBP will take these factors into account when issuing liquidated damages cases.
If there are successive filings of the ISF data to perfect or correct the data transmitted, CBP will consider only the filing closest to the allowed filing timeframe, which is typically the last ISF filed, for the purposes of issuance of liquidated damages. This clearly indicates that there will not be a per transmission penalty issuance. CBP also acknowledges that data may change somewhat during the transaction itself, and that the correction process is designed to allow for reporting of changed information prior to arrival in the U.S.
As CBP expected, the phase-in period has demonstrated several commercial challenges in obtaining all of the information required in a timely manner. CBP indicates that they will be fair in evaluating the timeliness of the filing and will continue to work with those parties who have participated in the process to date. The filing of provisional data is always an option for importers and by only utilizing the filing closest to the timeline of filing for the issuance of liquidated damages; CBP encourages all importers to file data based on that which is commercially available to meet the timelines.
CBP has indicated that it is important that importers and filers withdraw an ISF when it is known to be invalid. This may be a result of the cancellation of an order, the discovery of a significant change in the information necessitating a new ISF filing, a complete change in routing, or for other commercial reasons.
The following four situations may initiate liquidated damages and their resulting penalties:
- Failure to File an ISF: CBP indicates that there are several possible penalties for those shipments where there is a complete failure to file an ISF.
- The issuance of a Do Not Load (DNL) message to the carrier at the foreign port of lading
- Withholding permission issued to the carrier to unload the subject goods at the first U.S. port of arrival
- Delay in issuing permission to unload at the first U.S. port of arrival
- Issuance of a seizure notification
- Withholding Customs release of the goods allowing the goods to move to General Order (G.O.)
- The issuance of a liquidated damages case
- An Inaccurate Submission of Information on an ISF:
- A liquidated damages case will be issued in the amount of $5,000
- Late Submission of an ISF:
- A liquidated damages case will be issued in the amount of $5,000
- The Failure to Withdraw a Filing:
- A liquidated damages case will be issued in the amount of $5,000
Mitigation Amounts
There is a possibility of a total of $10,000 in liquidated damages per ISF filing. These may be mitigated based on several factors. For the first violation, CBP may cancel the liquidated damages case for the payment of $1,000 - $2,000. For second and subsequent violations, CBP may cancel the liquidated damages case for the payment of $2,500.
Mitigation Factors
The six mitigation factors to be used in determining cancellation/reduction of liquidated damages cases are:
- Evidence of progress in implementing ISF compliance during the phase-in period.
- The number of ISFs compared with the number of violations.
- C-TPAT Tier 3 and Tier 2 importers will receive consideration of up to 50 percent mitigation for violations.
- The importer has demonstrated that remedial actions have been taken to address the circumstances surrounding the violation.
- Inaccurate filings due to circumstances beyond the importer's control, such as vessel diversions and rolling bookings completely due to carrier actions.
- Receiving incorrect information from another party in the supply chain, if this information is found to be incorrect at a date later than allowed under the correction timeline. Under certain circumstances the liquidated damages may be canceled without payment.
Aggravating Factors
The four aggravating factors listed in the guidelines are as follows:
- The lack of cooperation with CBP
- Smuggling attempts and other actions contrary to law in association with the shipment
- Multiple errors on one ISF
- A rising error rate calculated over all ISFs
As of the writing of this article, ISF Bond Guidelines are still being finalized by CBP. They are expected to be published within a few weeks. In addition to an ISF stand alone continuous bond, a Single Transaction Bond process is expected to be instituted. The limit of liability for these bonds will be fully outlined in the Bond Guidelines.
We will be updating the ISF Bond Guidelines after they are published in the Federal Register.
Here is CBP Decision 09-26 in PDF format.
Here's a link to the CBP Bulletins:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/legal/bulletins_decisions/
BIS online export control training for exporters
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintain the BIS online training room for companies interested in learning about export control regulations. This organized repository of online training modules and webinars is a
 valuable resource for exporters who want to comply with the BIS regulations. This easily accessible part of the BIS outreach program has a focus on various specific export control issues. BIS has stated its intention to continue creating, supplementing, and maintaining these streaming video training modules.
The BIS online training room can be found on the following site:
http://www.bis.doc.gov/seminarsandtraining/seminar-training.htm
APHIS publishes schedule of increased export certification fee
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has finalized the fees charged for export certification of plants and plant products for the fiscal years 2010 through 2012. These fees will be effective as of October 1, 2009.
Full article available:
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Compliance eNewsletter,
please contact Paul Codere from the Customs Brokerage Department. |
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