Customs Faces 10+2 Confusion

NEWPORT, R.I.--With the new Importer Security Filing rule still in its shakedown period, Customs and Border Protection is trying to help importers figure out the rule and its own responses to application of the rule, known as 10+2 because of the 10 security data elements the agency now requires from importers and two from carriers 24 hours before a U.S.-bound container is loaded aboard a ship.

Richard DiNucci, director of the Secure Freight Initiative, told the annual Northeast Trade and Transportation Conference presented by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade here Thursday the weekly filings of the 10+2 data have increased by 25 percent since the start of the rule on Jan. 26.

“About 70 to 80 percent of importers are filing, and some ports are 95 to 100 percent compliant,” he said. He said CBP is continuing to reach out to importers to explain the rules. He said that CBP will send out warning letters “shortly” to importers that are not in compliance with the rule but “will not penalize importers who have failed.”

Jeffrey Meeks, an attorney who specialize in customs law, said he is concerned about “what’s happening with more aggressive enforcement of the ISF rule. He said CBP is using responses to the voluntary disclosures filed by importers on Forms 28 and 29 to inform the companies that they are under investigation for non-compliance. “Customs should not put any message on this voluntary disclosure,” he said. “Customs is focused on penalties. We have to keep an eye on this.”

Cynthia Whittenburg, the director of the CBP Trade Facilitation and Administration Division, said that CBP’s field offices should not be informing importers through Forms 28 and 29 that an investigation is underway. She said CBP is preparing to tell its field offices that such language is not appropriate. She said that if an importer discloses a violation on Form 29, the company has 30 days to file. “There will be some leeway when we discover discrepancies,” she said.

Missy Forey, the global trade manager at Burton Snowboards, asked the trade specialists on the CONECT panel how her company could avoid having its less-than-containerload imports held up by CBP when they are stuffed in a container with other importers’ shipments that are being reviewed by CBP. DiNucci replied that CBP has not yet had a case of that under the new rule and is “open to suggestions on how to resolve” such a problem, when it occurs.