News & Insights

Starting April 5, 2014, several changes will be implemented to the U.S Census Bureau Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR). Some of these changes involve goods leaving the U.S. under an ATA Carnet.  All exports leaving the United States, except temporary exports, have historically required Electronic Export Information (EEI) filing. However, the types of exemptions that exist today will be greatly curtailed effective April 5, 2014. These changes greatly affect ATA Carnet shipments, as they cover both U.S. issued ATA Carnets and foreign ATA Carnets used for temporary importation into the U.S. Narrowing the temporary export exemption Goods moving under the ATA Carnet are no […]

October 13, 2014

Per CBP CSMS #14-000520, effective October 1, 2014 the LA/LB Seaport will modify their enforcement posture for ISF no-file shipments. Per the statement, “CBP will continue to place manifest holds on all cargo (full container loads and consolidated loads) that does not have an ISF on file, 72 hours before vessel arrival at the LA/LB Seaport. CBP will manually monitor the existing holds to ensure the ISF information has been filed.” (Emphasis added. Previous policy used 48 hours prior to vessel arrival as the trigger.) Additionally, based on the ISF information filed, CBP will determine if additional enforcement measures are in order. This could include […]

October 13, 2014

CBP’s New York/Newark port issued its informational pipeline 14-024-NWK on August 4, 2014 advising they will immediately begin a “three strike” policy to enforce ISF violations. Refer to our July 14 posting for CBP’s sample violation letter.

October 13, 2014

CBP’s San Francisco port issued a notice on July 15 advising they will focus on ISF-10 enforcement for importers without the required ISF.

October 13, 2014

CBP has released a sample warning letter that it may use when notifying ISF importers of violations, consistent with their current “three strike policy.”  The sample letter can be found here.  This letter is intended to make importers aware of compliance issues pertaining to ISF filings, providing them an opportunity to correct issues and avoid liquidated damage claims for recurring errors.  Roanoke Trade encourages ISF importers to work closely with their customs brokers on ISF filings to assist with mitigating ISF exposures.

October 13, 2014

It’s been seven weeks since CBP’s internal memo to seaports resuming limited liquidated damage (LD) enforcement on ISFs. NCBFAA and the International Trade Surety Association (ITSA) requested a copy of the directive but CBP has declined to provide it. CBP maintains that an FAQ Addendum posted to their website sets forth the pertinent elements of the directive. Regarding the resumed enforcement phase: CBP has adopted a “three strikes” policy. Ports must undertake “informed compliance” outreaches to importers via phone, email, or letter for the first three (nationwide) violations. LD cases may be forthcoming beginning with the fourth violation. The three strikes threshold […]

October 13, 2014