New CBP Filing Rule for Imports via Ocean Vessels Effective January 26, 2010

January 15, 2010 – The U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published an interim final rule on Nov. 25, 2008 that requires, among other things, that importers of cargo into U.S. ports submit an Importer Security Filing (ISF) by way of a CBP-approved electronic data interchange system before the cargo is brought into the United States by ocean vessel.1 The ISF rule, now found at 19 CFR 149, implements sections of the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006 and the Trade Act of 2002, as amended by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002.

Although this rule became effective 60 days after publication, CBP provided a compliance date one year later, on Jan. 26, 2010. As of that date, importers must provide certain information 24 hours “before the cargo is laden aboard the vessel at the foreign port,” including: the seller; the buyer; the importer of record number or foreign trade zone applicant identification number (e.g., a Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number); the consignee number(s) (as defined in the rule); the manufacturer (or supplier); the ship to party; the country of origin; and the commodity Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) number. Additional information, consisting of the location at which the cargo container was stuffed and the identity of the consolidator, must be provided “as early as possible, in no event later than 24 hours prior to arrival in a United States port (or upon lading at a foreign port that is less than a 24 hour voyage to the closest United States port).”

Submission of the newly required ISF filing is in addition to, and must be made separately from the existing “prior notice” requirement established by the Bioterrorism Act of 2002. Importers of food, including dietary ingredients and dietary supplements, are already required to submit much the same information to the Food and Drug Administration prior to importation via any carrier (i.e., land, sea, or air).

Failure to comply with the ISF rule may result in CBP-issued liquidated damages of $5,000 per violation, and the agency may withhold release or transfer of the cargo or refuse allow merchandise to be unloaded, seize merchandise unloaded without permission, or subject cargo “do not load” orders at origin or further inspection on arrival.

Additional information on the ISF rule, commonly referred to as “10+2” in reference to the 10 data elements required to be submitted by importers and two additional elements provided by the transportation carrier, is available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/cargo_security/carriers/security_filing/.

1 The rule itself does not include the word “ocean,” but an explanatory document produced by CBP clarifies that the rule “only applies to cargo arriving in the United States by ocean vessel; it does not apply to cargo arriving by other modes of transportation” (see http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/publications/trade/import_sf_carry.ctt/import_sf_carry.pdf).