Ports Impacted by Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey’s aftermath is responsible for some serious issues surrounding the status of cargo and releases in the ports that were closed due to the violent storm.

Roanoke representatives Vice President, Surety Information and Analysis Matt Zehner and Vice President, Surety Trade Relations & Business Development Colleen Clarke sat in on a conference call with Customs and Border Protection on 8/29 and the following is a summary of information discussed:

Please click on each of the following hyperlinks for the individual port’s current status: 2101-Port Arthur, 5301-Houston Seaport, 5309-Houston Airport, 5310-Galveston, 5311-Freeport, 5312-Corpus Christi.

Diversions

• All cargo ships on the water with original destination to any of the closed seaports are being diverted to other ports.
  • For those ships underway, the manifests should be amended to reflect the new port of unlading.
• Entry (Cargo Release) and Entry Summaries; in order to keep the impact on the trade to a minimum, CBP is not requiring all entries and summaries to be updated.
  • Filers do not have to re-transmit data or cancel/delete cargo release or summary data in the following situations:
    • Any cargo release and entry summary filings with data pre-filed to clear at a closed port.
    • Certified summaries already filed at a closed port.
  • Cargo release filings at a closed port with no entry summary filed; filer should transmit the entry summary to the original port where cargo release was filed.
  • If no cargo release or summary filed at a closed port; filer should transmit the cargo release and summary to new (diverted) port.
• For ships diverted to a Mexican port and the cargo is moved via truck to the U.S., the manifest and cargo release must be cancelled and re-transmitted as truck manifest and cargo release as the new port of destination.
• Any cargo ship that is still in a foreign port with original destination to a closed port should change the port of arrival to an open port.
  • CBP advised that it could be weeks before these ports may re-open.
• CBP will not be issuing liquidated damages for ISF transactions for ocean cargo on the water originally destined for a closed seaport and now diverted to another port and there is no need to update the ISF data.

Snow Days

• CBP will allow for snow days for cargo releases where an entry summary is not filed because the cargo did not arrive at the closed port.
• CBP will provide advice to the trade for Houston area filers if they are filing RLF due to the port closures.

PGAs

• Partner Government Agencies (e.g., FDA):  if a Prior Notice has been provided on an entry originally destined to an affected port, it will be recognized in the new port of arrival.

Cargo in Closed Ports

• The extent of cargo damage at the ports is unknown at this time as they have not been able to fully assess the areas.
• CBP will not issue penalties for any merchandise in a general order warehouse.

Drawback and Reconciliation

• CBP advised to hold off in filing drawback entries at this time. If the filer is under a deadline to file, they should call their ACE account rep or email them at ASKACE@CBP.DHS.GOV.
• For reconciliation entries, filers should call their ACE account rep or email them at ASKACE@CBP.DHS.GOV.

If you have any questions, please call us at 1.800.ROANOKE (800.762.6653) or email us at infospot@roanokegroup.com.